The Fall of Remnant
by Lavits Dragoon
Summary: A team of ODSTs designated Ghost Squad have been called aboard the UNSC Morality to await their next mission. Yang, Blake, and their squad leader, Weiss soon learn that their new orders will be taking them through not just familiar territory for the Hell Jumpers they are, but for them personally as well.
1. New Orders

**Yeah new story! For people who are starting with this as my first work their reading, It's been a while since I've posting a new update, let alone a new story. So I'm pretty excited about this!**

 **This story exists in the Halo universe, but with the added planet of Remnant occupied by humanity. I would say this takes place somewhere during the original trilogy of the games. So humanity is still trying to keep their planets from being glassed by the Covenant. And speaking of Remnant, besides the characters that come from it, everything else pretty much follows the same rules of the Halo universe. No aura, or creatures of Grimm. You'll see what I mean later.**

 **More will be talked about at the ending A/n!**

* * *

The Fall of Remnant

Chapter 1: New Orders

*Thud* *Thud-Thud-Thud* *Thud*

Bandage wrapped fists struck the side of a punching bag fiercely. The force behind them making the bag of sand quake and recoil, nearly hitting the wall behind the training equipment.

*THUD!*

The bag was finally punctured by the aggressor's last hit and spun on the chain it was dangling from after slamming into the back wall, spewing sand like a water sprinkler.

"There you go again, breaking another one! I think the crew is getting tired of picking up after your mess, Yang." A black haired woman said, laughing as the blonde who delivered the final blow panted to catch her breath.

The black haired, amber eyed woman was wearing grey sweat pants and a black training bra while working out on the pull-up bar beside the blonde named Yang, who was in a similar get-up. She had one arm behind her back as she continued her reps with a subtle grin.

"Well…Maybe they shouldn't…Hahh…Make them so delicate!" Yang complained, still catching her breath as she wiped her face off with a towel, turning towards the showers.

Glancing to the still spinning bag of sand, the ravenette made out the numbers on the rapidly deflating face of the training equipment. **"100 Kilos"** With a huff she hopped down to follow the blonde, rolling her eyes at the figure in front of her.

"Yang, you know this equipment is for marines, not us. Even at their equipment's max weight, that bag's not going to last 5 minutes…"

"I know! Why do you think I was holding back, Blake? This place is like a child's playground... Remind me again why we're here?" Yang complained with a sigh as she found her own shower stall.

"Don't know any more than you. You'd have to ask Weiss. She seemed really stressed, or maybe upset…? I'm not sure. But she hardly said anything other than muttering to follow her aboard this hunk-of-junk…" Blake thought aloud to her squad mate as she entered her own shower stall.

"You think we're finally going to see some action again?" Yang tried containing her excitement in her voice, but Blake heard it clearly, even over the sound of both showers running.

Before the amber eyed woman could answer though, the old frigate class ship's intercoms came on.

"Gunnery sergeants Xiao Long and Belladonna, report to bridge." The voice was that of an older man's. One that seemed to carry an edge of annoyance through every syllable.

"I guess you'll find out soon…"

* * *

The pair made their way to the hall leading towards the bridge from the main elevators. The black and blonde haired women were now clad in their military uniforms after taking the time to get ready to meet the officer in charge of this station. A Frigate class vessel called the _UNSC Morality_.

As the doors opened, Yang's eyes landed on her squad leader, a shorter woman with long white hair tied into a bun peeking out beneath her officer's cap. The leader had an unfocused gaze, staring straight through a holo-display brought up from the center of the room as the presumed commander of this ship was in the middle of discussing something with her.

"Sir!" Blake announced while saluting, with Yang quick to follow with the gesture.

"Ah! Now that you're finally here, we can begin. Lieutenant Schnee, would you like to inform your squad of the newest update?" The commander asked with a wry smile, his white mustache arching slightly with his lip.

"Yes, commander Schnee…" The lieutenant gave out with a less than happy tone as she turned away from her father and the screen, towards her team.

' _So this is daddy dearest? I wonder what this is about…'_ The blonde soldier thought in a mocking manner as she glanced the commander up and down before looking back to her squad leader, Weiss Schnee.

"We've received our new orders. It appears a planet has come under attack by a single Covenant cruiser." Weiss began easily enough as she gestured towards the holo-display she was recently staring at.

The image was that of a Covenant vessel orbiting around a planetary body the three girls found familiar.

"Is that…?" The words left Blake's mouth in hesitation, giving time for the last to be finished by someone else.

"…Remnant…" Yang uttered sadly at the hologram displaying their home world under attack. Her hand flexed into a fist as her melancholy demeanor turned to anger at the alien threat's gall. She'd be damned if she let those animals anywhere near what remained of her family. She couldn't go through this again…

The dark haired girl's attention fell on Yang as she finished her sentence for her, seeing the brewing of painful and familiar emotions within the now trembling hand. Reaching over, Blake gave a quick, and sharp tug on a stray lock of golden hair behind Yang's ear that had slipped from her hastily-made military bun.

After feeling the slight pressure on the side of her head, the woman lost in thought snapped out of it and peeked over to her squad mate to see Blake focused on their leader, but a small, playful smile ran up the side of her lips that was almost teasing in the way it was out of place. Yang's side.

A smile came to her mouth as well, as she turned her focus to Weiss to follow along. This wasn't the first time her best friend had used this method to snap her out of the foul moods that interrupted her concentration, and she was sure it wouldn't be the last.

"Yes, but it seems that they're not there to just glass it from orbit. They've dispatched of our defenses stationed there and deployed an unknown number of their forces on the surface. We have no idea why…" Weiss explained as she used the terminal to show them the Covenant's movement.

"And that's exactly what you'll be finding out for us." The elder Schnee added, hands behind his back as he walked around the terminal.

"We're dropping on the planet a safe distance from the Covenant force's initial landing point to locate their base. From there, we make our way closer to see if we can't find out what they're up to…" The squad leader tapped on the light blue map to mark the location she informed them of.

"You're forgetting something, Lieutenant…" Commander Schnee said. The same smile from before coming back to show just how much he wanted to hear her say it.

With a quiet, sharp sigh, Weiss turned back to her teammates. "When we land from our drop… We'll be linking up with our leader for the remainder of the mission…" The aggravation in her tone was tame and small, but the fact that Blake and Yang could hear it at all was a testament to how much this part irked their ever stoic and stern leader.

"Wait, what?! We're being assigned a new squad leader?!" Yang asked as the metaphorical bomb was dropped.

Yang and Weiss had been known to argue constantly on and off missions, that much was true, but if it's one thing the blonde knew about the Lieutenant, it's that she was a damn good leader and could always be counted on to have her back. It was a truth that had been proven time and time again during their careers on the same squad. It was clear that the sergeant had no interest in a new leader to follow.

"Not exactly!" Weiss tried quelling her worry while also outright denying that she was being replaced. The outburst caused her father's smirk to approach near sneering levels as she continued. "The UNSC thinks that we'll need assistance on this particular mission, so they're sending us some back up. It just so happens that they apparently outrank me somehow…"

"What does that mean?" Blake asked, just as befuddled as Yang was.

"They have ties to ONI, so all their files are covered up. The only thing I could figure out is that they haven't been in the military long, yet somehow they have a higher rank than Lieutenant and will be taking command of the mission."

"Well that's great! ONI's involved and they put someone else in charge! Hopefully they know how to handle a damn rifle…" Yang growled out sarcastically, crossing her arms in contempt.

"The higher ups did say that we would be needing their expertise on this mission…Whatever that means…" Weiss put forth, doubting it would actually be some egghead ONI scientist they were sending.

"So when do we need to be ready, Lieutenant?" Blake asked as she elbowed Yang in the side, stammering her complaining rant in view of the commander of the ship.

"We will arrive at Remnant at oh-seven hundred, planetary time. Check your gear and be ready at the drop pods on time. ODST's, you're dismissed!" Weiss granted their leave with a sharp salute, loving Blake's business-first like manner in these situations.

* * *

While Weiss stayed behind to continue her conversation with her father after dismissing them, the pair of ODST's made their way to their bunks to get some rest before the mission.

"Unbelievable! How dare they…" Yang uttered, her voice low with anger as the walk over to their rooms did nothing but give her time to think about what the Covenant were up to.

"ONI's never a good sign, but I'm sure they have their reasons for putting someone else in charge." The black haired trooper tried reasoning with her friend and teammate.

"No, not that! How dare the Covenant! That's **our** world they're messing with, Blake! …They're not going to get away with this…" Yang finished with an irritated grumble as she marched down the hall and punched the bunk door's control panel, forcing the entryway to slide open.

Blake watched as her blonde friend tore through the hall and entryway, a hopeless smile growing on her face. She shook her head before continuing after her, muttering under her breath. "You're always the first to get so worked up, you never give **us** a chance…"

As Blake walked in, Yang was on her upper bunk, lying down with her back to the room.

"You're like a child, you know that?" The ravenette breathed tiredly as she approached the top bunk and crossed her arms over the edge to lay her chin.

"Don't give me that shit, Belladonna! I know you're just as furious about this as I am!" Yang barked, still not facing her squad mate.

"Possibly…But what good is getting angry about it going to do us or Remnant right now? All we can do is wait until we drop… **Then** we can do something about it." Blake smirked as she just knew Yang's eyes lit up at how that sounded.

"You said it first, Yang. That's our world they're messing with…" Blake continued as Yang turned around, wanting to know if her friend was serious.

"…Those Covies aren't going to know what hit them!" The black haired woman encouraged as she stuck out her arm and hand to clasp, the blonde immediately accepting it with a grin.

"Hell yeah!" Yang exclaimed, happy to hear that she could count on her best friend.

"Well, you two are taking this about like I expected…" Someone muttered from the doorway, unannounced to the two at the top bunk.

"Hey, boss! How did your talk with daddy go?" Yang chirped with her signature smirk as she recognized Weiss, moving to a sitting position on the edge of the bed with her legs dangling off.

"About as I expected…" Weiss muttered a repeat with an eye roll as her squad member tried to get under her skin. "…Look, I get that you want to protect Remnant from those bastards and I do too, believe me…But in order to win, we have to know what they want first. They're clearly after something. Otherwise, they would have just bombarded Remnant from orbit until there was nothing left. So before you go stirring up trouble, let's see what we can learn first. Understood?"

"Roger!" "Yes, Lieutenant!" The other two ODST's sounded off as they gave salutes, one more proper than the other.

Weiss smiled as she turned to her own bunk, knowing that meant that they still followed her as their leader no matter the new orders.

"Let's try and get some rest then ladies. We have a busy day tomorrow…"

* * *

"I don't see you getting much use out of Ember this time, Yang…" Blake joked as she fixed her gloves, completing her ODST armor set besides the helmet resting on the bench beside her. Her armor was all black besides the distinct white stripes across the sides of her helmet and shoulder plates, signifying her being a part of Weiss' squad.

The three troopers were now in the locker rooms, suiting up and preparing before heading to the drop pod bay.

"You taking that bet?" Yang asked with a wishful smirk as she donned her similarly colored helmet. The last piece of her armor that matched Blake's completely. Nothing would stop Yang from putting her pride and joy to good use on every single mission they undertook. The blonde's primary weapon was the M90 model shotgun with a black and yellow pattern across the barrel.

"Don't do it, Blake. She'll find a way. She **always** finds a way…" Weiss groaned as she affixed her fully white greaves to her legs. They matched the color of her shoulder plates and the helmet that she picked up and kept at her side, the only piece distinguishing her from the rest of her squad.

"Check your weapons and don't forget to bring extra ammo just in case. It's better to have it and not need it then to **need it and not have it**." Weiss droned on to the annoyance of the other two as they finished her sentence along with her.

"You really think there's even the possibility of us needing extra ammo? It's a recon mission, what are you expecting?" Yang asked as she and the other two put their M6C/SOCOM sidearms in their holsters. The Close Quarters Specialist then closed her locker after bringing a few spare clips for her pistol and loading up the small bandolier on her left arm bracer with shotgun rounds, putting the rest away in her armor.

"The unexpected…What happens if we're caught in an ambush? I don't want to fight off a group of 'Gators' with the butt of my rifle, Xiao Long." Weiss scoffed as she loaded her suppressed M392 DMR and strapped it to her back.

"She's right. It couldn't hurt to be over prepared. What's a few extra pounds to us?" Blake sided with her leader as she held her M7S suppressed SMG, slapping the clip into the side of the gun before putting it on the opposite thigh of her sidearm.

"Fine. Fine…I'm ready." Yang waved off as she put Ember on her back and faced her squad mates.

"Then let's go feet first into hell…" Weiss said with a smirk as she put on her helmet, leading the other two out of the locker room after making sure they had everything for the mission.

* * *

"Lieutenant Schnee!" An engineer called out as the three approached, throwing up a quick salute.

Weiss nodded at the callout, but said nothing as this was her first time seeing the man.

"The coordinates are already factored in. You'll be dropping near the major city of Vale. There's a forest to the east that would provide good cover for your squad. That's precisely where you'll be landing, just on the outskirts." The man explained as he walked with them to their drop pods.

"Good. And are the coordinates and goals for our objective updated as well?" Weiss asked as an indicator popped up in her HUD.

"Just did!" The engineer chirped as he tapped away at the tablet in his hands. "Just past the forest is where the Covenant have sent down ground forces to set up a base. Our out-of-orbit surveillance was cut off shortly after we saw movement on the ground, though…"

"Evaluate the strength of the forces and defenses. Remain undetected. And discover their plans if possible…" Weiss repeated through her comms to the others as she read off the new orders.

"Right, boss!" Yang repeated back, Blake merely sending a nod and quiet indication of understanding.

"So I assume that our squad leader is already on the ground, waiting for us?" Weiss asked the man as she opened up her pod.

"Hey, your guess is as good as mine! I haven't been told a thing about the one in charge of the ground mission." He said as he waved his arms back and forth.

"Of course…" Weiss uttered, irritated, as she put her rifle inside and sat down in her pod, turning on the pod screens to get a visual of her team doing the same.

"Hey, don't worry about it! We know who the real Ice Queen is!" Yang said through comms, trying to cheer her up the only way she knew how.

"Thanks, Yang…" The current squad leader deadpanned. "…Just make sure you guys still follow orders. I appreciate it, but I don't want to see either of you court-martialed."

"Aww…You do care!" Yang said with a taunting laugh.

"It wouldn't do for my subordinates to be seen as **in** -subordinate. That would reflect badly on me." Weiss quickly explained.

She couldn't see Yang's face, but the noise that the blonde made suggested that she stuck her tongue out at the monitor.

"Oh, well. I'm ready to kick this sucker off! Let's go!" Yang blew off the remark easily as she began tinkering with something that Weiss couldn't quite see, a proud giggle making it through from the blonde's pod.

"What are you up to n-…!"

The leader was cut off as she heard a faint siren go off. It got louder and was accompanied by gun fire and what sounded like carpet bombing…

Until a guitar and drums cut in…

"Xiao Long! You turn that migraine-waiting-to-happen off!" Weiss roared as she struggled with her helmet, before realizing it was too late to remove it as their pods were getting ready to launch.

"Oh, come on! This song's a classic!" Yang laughed as she played the air guitar in her pod, head banging lightly.

" **Another mission, the powers have called me away. Another time to carry the colors again. My motivation, an oath I've sworn to defend. To win the honor of coming back home again…"**

"XIAO LONG!" Her leader's voice barreled through the comms and speakers of the pod, but did nothing to phase the blonde's excitement as they began their rapid descent towards the planet of Remnant…

* * *

 **So that song was "Indestructible" By Disturbed if anyone was wondering. And considering this takes place around 2550, Disturbed would most certainly be considered a classic band, if they still have a following that is. I think it fit the persona of an ODST pretty perfectly, especially someone like Yang who, in the show RWBY, only gets stronger when hurt...**

 **It's been a while since I've updated, as I said previously. And that's because I've been writing this story. I've actually stockpiled a few chapters of this and decided to try something different from what I normally do. Instead of posting chapters as I complete them, I'm going to release one every month until it's finished since I have up to chapter 5 completed. I think there will be 9 in total, so I hope I'll be able to finish this story before I run out. Here's hoping!**

 **Please leave me a review if you could. I appreciate the feedback and would be happy to answer a question within reason of spoilers and the like. So don't be afraid to ask! Until next time, peace!**


	2. Home Again

Chapter 2: Home Again

* * *

Three hunks of metal hurdled towards the surface of Remnant. As they broke the atmosphere, stabilizers were released to slow their descent. Inside, the passengers all had their own reactions, or lack thereof, as this was far from the first drop the experienced team had been through.

"Yang, maybe you could turn it down a little? I don't really care either way, but Weiss has gone quiet. And that's never a good sign…" Blake warned the blonde through the comms in her helmet.

Yang heard her squad mate and glanced over at the video feed of Weiss in her pod. The shorter ODST was shaking in her seat. And while they all were to some extent, due to the rapid drop from the sky, Yang's glance focused on the clenched fists on the handles of the Schnee's seat.

"Uh-oh…" Yang muttered, followed by her immediately turning down the metal music to hear the beeping of her pod as the lights started to flash, signaling their near arrival. "…Brace for impact…" She warned with fear in her voice. Not for the imminent crash per se, but for what was in store for her after they regrouped.

The three pods came into contact with the ground, kicking up dust and debris as they created small craters against the grassy field. All but one that happened to go off course just slightly, ending up barreling through a tree at the edge of the forest and landing sideways tangled up in the giant mangled limbs of the now uprooted topiary.

"Egh-Crap…! That wasn't the best landing…" The blonde murmured as she was tossed around and ended up sideways with the pod and out of her seat.

Pushing herself up, Yang glanced around to see that the door had neglected to eject automatically. Bracing her feet against the doorway, the ODST delivered a bit of force to see if she could make it budge. When the metal around the thick glass window creaked, she brought her boot back and kicked as hard as she could. The pod door came loose and was thrown several feet away, smashing into another tree before falling over with a clang as she was freed.

"Damn…" Yang groaned as she crawled out on her elbows, a small bruise already making itself known on her side.

"It could have been worse…" A voice said humorously as a heavy, but familiar boot stepped near Yang. "…Remember when Weiss landed in that lake?"

The slightly sore ODST looked up to see an almost exact copy of her own armor extending a hand as the other held a suppressed SMG. The gesture and reminiscence put a smile on her face as she accepted the gloved hand and stood up with Blake's help.

"Ehh, it was more of a big puddle really…" Yang joked, downplaying the memory as she glanced to the side to see Blake's pod open and vacant within the clearing. Her vision then shifted further, looking for her leader's when she spotted it…Along with an absolutely fuming white and black ODST stomping towards her.

The 'gunny' sergeant put up her hands in feigned innocence as a nervous chuckle escaped her lips. Weiss gave her no time to defend herself though, as she grabbed her by the collar of her armor and slammed her into the nearest upright tree. Blake stepping to the side, just letting it happen with an eye roll.

"My ears are still ringing, you dumbass! And not because of the crash!" Weiss' voice came through both of their comms, absolutely just as angry as Yang knew she would be. Her helmet only came up to Yang's chin, but that didn't mean she was any less intimidating.

"Why didn't you listen to me when I told you to turn it down?!" The Schnee asked as she put more pressure on the hold.

"C-Come on. It wasn't that bad!" Yang tried quelling her anger as her voice was stunted from the pressure on her chest, but the hearable smile from the blonde's audio feed just made Weiss angrier.

As her grip started to strengthen even more on Yang, Weiss flinched as a hand landed on her shoulder. Vision darting to her side, she noticed Blake standing next to her, but she wasn't staring at either of the two ODST's in their typical squabble.

"Lieutenant, look." Blake directed as she nodded westward.

Far off, nearly past the horizon, were flashes of light streaking downward towards Remnant. As the lights vanished, rumblings of explosions could be heard and plumes of smoke seen rising up from the vanishing points.

"That's…The direction of Vale…" Yang uttered as she also looked over. The grip on her collar slackened as she and Weiss stared in awe of all the chaos that must be raging in their home town.

"They…They must be attacking close areas of military presence…" Weiss murmured sadly as she let go of Yang entirely.

"Fort Beacon…" Blake finished for her, clenching her left fist tightly before letting it go with a steadying breath. She knew now was not the time to let sentiment decide their actions. "There's nothing we can do for them now…Weiss? Do you want me to move ahead and make sure the coast is clear?"

"Y-Yeah…Covies might have heard our arrival…" Weiss took a moment to compose herself before grabbing her rifle from her pod and checking to make sure it survived the crash. She gave a quick routine check-in with command before heading towards the forest after Blake. Glancing back as she flipped on her visor to mask her face with the signature black tent though, she saw the blonde still staring at the smoke trails. "Yang…It's time to move out." Weiss ordered, her voice softened in understanding.

"…Coming…" There was a dangerous tone in Yang's voice as she balled her fists tightly, but she followed the order all the same, retrieving Ember from the downed pod and activating her visor before jogging her way to catch up with Weiss, as Blake was further ahead within the forest. _'Stay safe, Dad…'_

* * *

The squad moved swiftly and quietly through the cover of the forest. With Blake, their forward scout and stealth expert leading the way, there were to be no surprises as they made their way closer to the objective marker within their HUD.

"Another patrol to the north…Looks like we were right in assuming 'gators'. Another Elite with a group of Grunts… Staying low and changing course to avoid them." Weiss and Yang heard Blake inform them as they moved up, also avoiding the patrol party as they trudged through the thicket of bramble and shrubbery in the untamed forest they found themselves.

They had yet to see the trooper moving ahead of them since their regrouping, but this only instilled more confidence in their mission's success, as it meant the enemy wasn't likely to see the black haired scout either.

Continuing further into the dense woodlands the team made their way effortlessly past a few more enemy groups before their forward scout reported back in.

"Hold up. I've found something…Weiss…You're gonna' want to take a look at this…" Blake's voice came through quietly, a sense of worry sinking into the leader and squad mate as they slowly proceeded.

"What is it? The base? ...!" The Lieutenant questioned as she approached Blake's blip on her motion sensor. Her question was answered as she and Yang sidled up to her squad mate, prone on top of a rock overlooking more forest in a gorge below.

Hundreds of feet away within the wild valley was another cluster of Covenant. Except these were stationary and peering out into the forest and rocky hill ahead of them on alert. Four Skirmishers with carbines kept their eyes on the surrounding foliage, two perched in separate trees while the other two were on the ground. There was one Elite guarding the area as well, but what had the leader truly startled was the shimmering wall of light that bounced off of seemingly nothing between him and the group of avian creatures.

"Well, I guess we know what was blocking the ship's view from the Covie's base now…" Yang murmured lowly as the group eyed the giant energy shield that expanded across as far as they could see.

"Lieutenant, any ideas?" Blake wondered as she glanced to her leader.

"Working on it…" Weiss muttered as she activated her comms to command.

"Command. We have a problem…" Weiss waited for a reply, but when there was none, her eyebrow twitched. "…Command?"

All the squad leader could pick up was static from the channel as she waited longer for a response.

"Maybe command's not taking personal calls right now?" Yang joked before a yelp forced its way past her lips, being hit in the shoulder by Blake.

As Yang held her arm, the black haired ODST glanced back at the shield. "Maybe that's blocking long range communications by proximity as well?"

"…It's possible, but regardless, we need to report this to command. If we have no way of getting closer to the enemy base, then they need to know why." Weiss explained as she started to move, getting ready to head back to where they last had a stable connection with command.

"Wait, boss! Look!" Yang shouted into their group comms as she pointed back to the Covenant guards.

Another patrol group was approaching the guards and the wall of energy from the North East. The new group of Grunts and shielded Jackals seemed to communicate something before the Elite on the other side of the dome made its way over to a console.

A hole, maybe big enough to fit a warthog, opened up on the giant shield, allowing for the patrol to start passing through.

"That console. That's how we get in. We need to inform command, then devise a way of getting …" Weiss informed the team before abruptly being silenced. She was nearly turned around, ready to go back to the clearing to get a hold of her father, when a muffled gunshot went off, grabbing her attention after the fact.

Yang and Blake saw everything however, as they had yet to take their eyes off the threats stationed below.

As one of the last Jackals from the patrol group made their way inside the barrier, their head was pierced straight through, ripped apart by a large caliber round that left them dead before they hit the ground. The bullet wasn't done there though, as it traveled through the opening in the shield and into the console operated by the Elite. The lights flickered and then dimmed in disrepair as the opening remained as such.

The Elite tried to access the controls again, but when he had no such luck, he slammed his fist into the computer with a furious roar and then turned to the unseen threat with his plasma rifle ready.

"What the fuck just happened?" Yang asked, perplexed as it was clear that none of them fired the echoed shot. The noise from the interruption seemed to come from every direction, making finding the source a dubious task.

"I bet the Covenant down there are asking themselves the same thing…" Blake mused as she looked over at Weiss, ready for orders.

"Well, we can't have them alerting the rest of the force…" The Lieutenant led on, shouldering her suppressed DMR and lining the sights up with the Elite frantically searching for a threat. She pulled the trigger and the round glanced off his shields as they absorbed the first shot, but not the final of the next three as each shot made their mark, putting a sizeable hole in his chest as he keeled over.

"Those are orders I can get behind~…" Yang sang as she hopped over the slope and slid down until she was able to stop herself behind a tree after a forward tumble. Blake followed after her as she gave her leader a knowing look for her teammate that said, 'I'll keep her out of trouble,' before she flicked her visor shield down to mask her face in the presence of a fire-fight.

* * *

As the two ODSTs moved up, Weiss continued to rain down on the enemy caught in the open. She took out a few fleeing Grunts as another nearly soundless shot went off, the direction indeterminable. This time, it was aimed at one of the two Skirmishers perched in the trees.

The avian-like alien squawked out as its neck was torn open, falling out of the tree and onto the leaf covered forest floor.

Weiss aimed for the second tree bound Covenant and managed to land a hit on its shoulder, but the creature clutched a branch as it was nearly thrown off from the hit, remaining a threat as it found the ODSTs location based off of the direction of the shot. Before it could return fire however, a third unknown blast came for its chest. The Skirmisher was thrown into another tree from the impact, leaving a purple streak against the trunk as it fell towards Remnant, dead.

The white haired leader bit the inside of her cheek at the mockery, whether it was intentionally mocking or not. The anger quickly fled her body though, as a green light soared past her helmet, one of the Skirmishers on the ground also spotting her. Weiss fell on her stomach at the edge of the ridge to hide herself as she activated her comms. "Are you two making any progress? I'm pinned now, so the rest is up to you until you take out those sharpshooters!"

"On it!" Blake sent back, before turning to Yang who was behind a different tree. "You get the one on the left, I take the right?"

"Aw! That's no fair! The rest are closer to the one on the right!" The blonde complained as she peeked around her tree, only to pull back as the Skirmisher on her side fired at her, knowing exactly where she was.

"I know~…" Blake teased, wanting to rack up a higher kill count than Yang. The ravenette then quickly turned around and rushed to a closer tree to the threats, firing her SMG in tandem. Ducking and weaving through plasma bolts, she managed to tag a few Grunts, but was unsuccessful on hitting the Skirmisher as the avian creature ducked behind the closest tree.

"Yang? You still pinned…?" Blake asked as she couldn't see her position anymore from her new location. She got her answer shortly after though, the sound of an M90 shotgun going off followed by the shriek of a dying T'vaoan Skirmisher. _'Leave it to Yang to find a way to use a shotgun against a long range opponent…'_ Blake thought as she internally rolled her eyes.

"One!" Yang cheered over the comms, a short laugh following as she stayed behind the tree previously owned by the now-dead avian Covenant.

"Two…" Blake rebutted with a smirk.

"What?!" Yang questioned before glancing across the battlefield to see two slain Grunts near Blake's path. "Grunts don't count, Blake!"

"You never claimed that this mission~!" The black haired ODST argued teasingly, checking once again if the Skirmisher stayed behind the same tree. The alien had started to raise its carbine towards the louder sergeant, but Blake was quicker on the draw, laying down suppressive fire with her SMG. "Lieutenant, you're good to move up!"

"Got it!" Weiss once again rose up to survey the firefight. All that was left besides the Skirmisher Blake had pinned was a Jackal with a shield and two fleeing Grunts.

Trusting in her squad to deal with the stragglers, the leader decided to search the surrounding area for where those sniper shots came from. She had heard those gunshots many a time before. They belonged to the SRS99D-S2 AM model suppressed sniper rifle. So either this person was an insurrectionist that got a hold of military grade equipment, or this was the person the team was expecting.

The Lieutenant checked her motion tracker but picked up nothing aside from her own squad and the last remaining Covenant.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Yang barked out with a half-smile as she pulled out her sidearm and lit up one of the fleeing grunts. She then took aim at the Jackal, but someone beat her to the punch.

*Pa-Pa-Pap*

Three bullets consecutively struck the Jackals back, rendering it a twitching carcass as it met the ground.

"Blake?! That one was mine!" The blonde sergeant whined like a kid losing a favorite toy.

"That…Wasn't me…" Blake murmured after she finished off the last of the Skirmishers that she had suppressed. They both turned around and glanced up at the origin of the silenced rifle. In a tree right above them.

* * *

*Pa-Pa-Pap*

The last Grunt dropped dead as the gun went off one last time.

A dark figure started to shift from a prone position within the tree branches now that the threat was dealt with. Blake and Yang aimed their weapons up at the unknown, not taking any chances.

"Call sign: Gold!" Blake enquired, finger on the trigger.

"Shine!" An unfamiliar feminine voice came through their helmets as the figure showed itself, jumping down from the tree.

"No fucking way…" Yang breathlessly uttered, lowering Ember to her side as Blake did the same with her SMG, the call sign being answered successfully.

"Lieutenant…We found the new addition…" Blake's words tumbled out as she stared at the imposing figure in front of her.

"So that was them screwing everything up…I can't believe-…!" Weiss began berating the new person as she made her way to the squad, only to stop herself as she caught site of who, or what, they were.

Nearly seven feet tall, a woman clad in black and red armor from head to toe stood in front of them. This was not ODST armor however…

"A Spartan…They sent a Spartan…O-On a recon mission…?" Weiss muttered, mostly to herself, in awe of the rare presence.

The unknown Spartan's armor was primarily black with the exception of the armor plates between her knees and waist painted red along with a few red lines on the top of the black tented recon helmet she bore. Her right bicep had a bandolier of sniper rounds attached for easier reloading. This made sense, as Weiss could see the sniper she had heard being fired earlier on the super soldier's back. On the Spartan's left wrist was a TACPAD displaying geographical data of the surrounding forest. And currently within the new arrival's grasp was a BR55HB suppressed battle rifle. The gun that she had 'stolen' Yang's kill with, ending this little bout with the Covenant.

"Recon mission? Well, not anymore. I'm afraid this got a lot more complicated for you troopers…" Was the female Spartan's response, marching towards the still opened energy shield.

"W-Wait! We have to tell command about this! We don't know what we're walking into and command doesn't even know about what's interfering with their surveillance!-… Hey! Are you listening to me!?" Weiss stormed off after the Spartan, fuming as she was being ignored. It was like having a second Yang on the squad…

"We can inform command **after** we take down this shield. Besides, you have new orders…" The black and red Spartan explained as she stopped next to the console within the shield.

"New orders? What does that mean? And what are you doing down there?" Weiss continued fishing for answers as the Spartan dropped to her knees and began messing with the terminal.

The Spartan pulled a panel off, exposing wires and the power source. The latter was what the one-woman-army was after, as she checked over it. "Well the power core seems to be mostly intact…" She mumbled under her breath as she noticed her bullet hit exactly where she wanted it to. "…I'm trying to find out if we can't use this to help…-Ugh! Damn!" The Spartan cursed as she checked the line running from the power source to the shield controls, finding no problems until she made her way to the controls themselves.

"Controls are smashed to hell…" The Spartan huffed out as she stood to her feet once again.

"Well, whose fault was that? You're the one that shot it!" Weiss reminded, taking a bit of satisfaction that the Spartan's own plans were foiled.

"I did, but my shot wasn't what put a Sangheili's fist-sized hole in the control panel…" The giant woman muttered. "I shot the power source to short-circuit the shield controls so that that 'Gator face' couldn't just close the shield back up. He must have known that I would try to access it later though, so he just decided to smash it to hell and worry about fixing it later!"

"Well, can you fix it?" Weiss asked standoffishly.

"Short answer is no. Long answer is yes if I could find the right parts, but we would have to search for another terminal rendering fixing this one pointless if we did. I say we just move on. Chances are I wasn't going to be able to use this to completely drop the shields anyways..." During the Spartan's explanation, Yang and Blake had walked up after checking all of the corpses for life.

"Area's clear, Lieutenant." Blake announced pointedly to the white haired ODST instead of the Spartan.

"Good." Weiss said to Blake before turning back to the Spartan with a hidden glare. "So are you going to tell the squad about these new orders of yours?"

" **My** command wants us to destroy that ship threatening this planet." The Spartan explained, gesturing to the massive vessel above Remnant. "I don't know how you three feel about it, but those sound like pretty good orders to me."

"You mean ONI…" Blake murmured, untrustworthily. Remembering that their 'new leader' is close with the organization.

"That sounds great! Why don't we just go do that then! I'm dying to know how you expect the four of us to pull that off!" The sarcasm in Weiss' tone was palpable as the new member turned away and started walking deeper into enemy territory, nonplussed.

"Ughhh…This is worse than I thought it would be…" Weiss ground out between her teeth as Blake laid a hand on her shoulder again.

"Calm down, Weiss. Just take it one step at a time. She seems pretty capable…" The ravenette said, forgoing comms as she tried comforting her leader without the new Spartan hearing, thinking on the bright side.

"As a **war** **machine** , or a leader?" Weiss muttered so only Yang and Blake could hear.

"Hopefully, both!" Yang jumped in with a cheery tone, following their lead to keep it between the three of them. The blonde slapped her hand on Weiss' other shoulder as she gave her a little push to move forward. The three ODSTs on their way to catch up with the new Spartan addition.

* * *

 **They've arrived on the battle field! And they met up with their new ground leader. I wonder who it could be...? Yeah, it's not supposed to be much of a surprise for you readers, but someone on that squad is in for quite the surprise later on! xD Until next update, peace!**


	3. Breach and Seared

Chapter 3: Breach and Seared

* * *

The new team of four continued as quietly as possible into the Covenant controlled forest, only ever speaking in whispers through their comms instead of the output speakers in their helmets. It seemed that the shields only prevented transmissions leaving the area outside the dome of energy, but had no effect on sending and receiving communications from the inside as long as they remained as such, since Weiss could still not get in touch with command.

Contact was surprisingly sparse within the defensive barrier, giving them plenty of time during the trek that took well over an hour to think on their new ordeal. They all had something on their minds as they traveled with a new companion or companions, and Weiss wasn't as content with keeping her thoughts to herself like the others.

"Why did ONI **really** send you here?" The previous leader of the ground team asked, having a hard time believing that the Office of Naval Intelligence would bother with saving a planet unless there was something in it for the shady organization.

"You're on a need-to-know basis right now, Lieutenant. And that's not something you need to know just yet…" The Spartan didn't even bother covering it up that the ODST was onto something, knowing the white haired woman would never buy any lie she fed her. "…You of all people should realize how much trouble we could get in if I shared those secrets…But believe me when I say my current objective is to take out that ship."

"Don't talk like you know me…" Weiss warned half-heartedly, something telling her that this person really did know about her.

"I know everything that was summarized within the file I was given. I studied each one thoroughly…" The sniper said as she stopped to survey the area ahead of them. When she found nothing of importance, the group continued on along with the conversation.

"You… read our files…?" Blake asked sheepishly, before an encouraging nudge met her on the shoulder from her blonde friend and comrade.

Yang sent her a smile through her helmet, and even though Blake couldn't see it, she still felt it all the same.

"I did…. If I'm to be working with you, I need to know who I'm working with…Blake Belladonna. Gunnery Sergeant. Currently enlisted in the 105th Orbital Drop Shock Trooper division and a part of Ghost squad under the command of Weiss Schnee. Age, 22. Joined the military at the age of 18 after moving to Remnant once her home world Eridanus II came under attack by the Covenant and was forced to flee…" The red and black suit of armor spoke as if she were reading it right off the file itself.

As the Spartan paused, Blake took that as a sign that that was all she had on her and released a shaky sigh. However, the one woman army continued.

"…You have skills in stealth and are quite capable with small firearms as well, like that SMG of yours…" The Spartan stopped in her tracks once again, but she wasn't being simply cautious of her surroundings as she asked the question the dark haired girl was dreading. "…Did you learn that growing up as an insurrectionist, Blake?"

Instantly, azure eyes narrowed on the back of the Spartan's helmet as Weiss defended her subordinate. "Her past is her own business! She had her reasons, just like she had her reasons to fight and bleed alongside Yang and I on countless missions together! So you have no right judge her!"

"Lieutenant. It's fine…" The ravenette said, calming Weiss' ire for the unknown ONI Spartan only slightly. "…I would find it stranger if she wasn't suspicious of me, honestly. But she has the right to know if we're to work effectively as a team. That, I agree with…" Blake then turned back to the Spartan ahead of the group with her own question in mind. "…With that being said, though…I'll answer the question only if you answer one of my own. How does that sound?"

"Depends on the question…" The red and black Spartan uttered, having secrets of her own that she would like to keep hidden if at all possible.

With a humorous huff, Blake accepted. "I guess that's as good as I'm gonna get from you…" She then released a calming breath before continuing. "…Yes, I was an insurrectionist. My whole family was actually, but I was too young at the time to be of any real help once the internal fighting actually began on our planet. I learned all of that here on Remnant, when I joined the UNSC to stop the Covenant from glassing anymore worlds like they did mine…" Blake's grip on her SMG tightened in remembrance.

"Hey, but that's when you met me!" Yang chirped as she slung an arm around her best friend, sensing the dismal memories flooding Blake's mind.

The comradery brought a small grin to Blake's face as the rigidness throughout her body relaxed some in the blonde's half embrace.

"Hey, dumbass! Currently in the middle of Covenant territory right now!" Weiss barked out incredulously, as she heard her subordinate dropping her guard in favor of goofing off.

"That's what we all want, sergeant…" The mysterious woman murmured to Blake's wish as the other three were lost in another argument starting.

Taking her arm back as none of them heard what the Spartan said, Yang stuck her tongue out at her superior officer's name calling, knowing Weiss couldn't see her. "Geeze, it's not like we're in any immediate threat. We haven't come across a single enemy since the guard post!"

"Movement…" The Spartan informed, abruptly stopping the argument before it could officially begin. Her fist was closed and raised for the group to halt as she kneeled down to make herself smaller while taking a better look.

"What? Really?" The blonde was shocked at the timing as she put her back to a tree close by for cover just in case.

"A few Grunts…Wait…Several contact. We definitely found their base…" The black and red armored woman muttered as she adjusted the zoom of her rifle scope to see dozens of Jackal snipers posted inside abandoned towering structures.

On the deserted streets of the ghost town now owned by the alien threat were several groups of Grunts and Elites alike patrolling the perimeter. Turrets were set up behind blockades in the roadways and inside buildings in all directions as far as the super soldier could tell. "…This doesn't look so easy…"

"I told you this was a bad idea!" Weiss complained hotly as she also observed the threat.

"Nah, we got this!" The Spartan cheered, her voice uplifting as if she was actually happy for the challenge.

The reaction got the whole team's attention, especially the blonde's…

' _I swear I've heard that chipper tone before…'_ But Yang's thoughts were soon crossed as she remembered something else. "Hey, wait a minute! You still have to answer a question of ours!"

"Not now. Planning time…" The Spartan swiftly redirected as she moved behind a tree and signaled for the rest to come to her to make the planning easier.

"I hope you're not thinking of breaking our agreement. You owe me an answer." Blake reminded as she carefully snuck over, followed by Weiss and Yang.

* * *

"…You two will follow Belladonna's lead to building-A while I provide over watch support from this ridge to the North West." The Spartan went over the plan as she directed them with her TACPAD.

The three ODSTs were meant to proceed stealthily within the abandoned city through a blind spot the ONI operative had found while surveying the turret and sniper defenses. Then while inside, the team would clear out building-A of all sniper and artillery hostiles quietly to set up a place for them to further plan once given a better view of inside the Covenant's stronghold.

"…Just remember, if things go south while inside, notify me and I'll come help. We can't just turn back and re-plan if we're spotted. Their defenses would be too difficult to slip past once they know we're around, so our only option will be to push forward as quickly and carefully as possible, then find a place inside to lay low while we think of our next move."

"Understood…" Weiss near-grumbled, her situation not sitting right with her to take orders from someone untrustworthy. Even if the Spartan's plan was near identical to her own, given the opportunity to execute it.

Shortly after their leader accepted the orders, the other two ODSTs confirmed theirs as well, if but a bit hesitantly.

As they turned to make their way to the abandoned city through the cover of the neighboring forest, the Spartan called for their attention one last time.

"Xiao Long. I know I shouldn't have to say this, but pistol only for you. We're infiltrating, not assaulting. That shotgun would be best left on your back for now."

' _No shit!'_ The blonde thought sarcastically before sighing in acceptance, slowly putting away Ember. "Believe it or not, I know how to be quiet when needed…" She mumbled, not expecting an answer.

"I do believe that. You wouldn't still be on this squad if that weren't the case." The black and red suit said with a knowing smile behind the tinted visor.

Yang stopped in place after the words made it through her helmet. She started to turn around, the voice sounding so familiar, before she shrugged it off with a shake of the head and went to catch up with the rest of her squad. _'Where do I know her from? It's not like I've ever met a Spartan before…At least, I don't think so…'_ The ODST thought confused, as the more she heard the unknown person talk, the more familiar they seemed.

* * *

"The Jackal is turning away…Now!" The Spartan's voice passed through the squad's comms, directing them to move at the right time as they snuck closer to the outskirts of the dead city.

The ODSTs rushed to the side of what the Spartan designated as building-B, staying low to avoid being spotted by the turrets stationed directly above them.

The Grunt controlling the giant gun swiveled the artillery around as it thought it saw something in the forest, but went back to scanning a moment later as the group released a collective sigh in their helmets.

"Ok, now I don't have eyes past the alleyway, so you'll have to move through it carefully as you approach the nearest fire escape." Their eyes said over the comms, after making sure that they were in the clear.

"Right... Blake. Watch our six?" Weiss asked her squad mate, nodding further down the alleyway as Yang moved underneath the flimsy looking metal staircase system just up ahead.

"Covering…" The raventte confirmed as the other two ODST worked on making it up the half-broken rusty ladder.

Blake moved cautiously through the narrow pathway to the alleyway exit, avoiding stepping on the potentially noisy waste that littered the ground as she approached the intersection to a once populated street corner.

She hugged the right wall as she kept her gun leveled at the slowly encroaching sightline of the left side of the alleyway entrance.

Now at the corner, and seeing no threat from the opposite side, Blake lowered her gun slightly as she peeked around the bend, concealing as much of herself as possible.

This seemed pointless, she may have thought, as a single Grunt was stationed right around the corner. The alien was not but three feet from her as she stuck out her head to meet gazes with the shocked hostile.

Before the diminutive creature could even muster a yelp, the silent ODST seized the Grunt in a choke hold and pulled it back into the alley, her other hand covering its face mask.

As the alien kept struggling in her grasp, it made it difficult to both keep it quiet and also drag it further within the deserted alleyway. Blake had managed to pull it behind a dumpster just before it started flailing for its holstered plasma pistol. She gritted her teeth as the panicked creature managed to push the both of them into the alley wall, with Blake taking the brunt of the hit.

The amber eyed girl's heart was racing as their mission rested on her shoulders at this moment. She could feel every pulse within her chest as she fought with the surprisingly strong lackey of the Covenant army. If any other hostile forces were close enough to hear the struggling, or were stationed together with this Grunt and came looking for him, she knew that they could all be in deep trouble soon.

Not wanting this to escalate any further and risk jeopardizing the mission, she pulled out her combat knife and halted the Grunt's head movement just long enough to sink the blade into its neck with a sickening slice.

Blake panted for breath as she sank to the ground and pitched the body off of herself. The dead alien remaining concealed behind the dumpster as its life force pooled beneath, a quietness overtaking the alleyway. She closed her eyes in relief that the fight was over, and once she regained her breath, her thoughts then wondered to if she truly managed to keep the altercation hidden from other eyes, but those gears came grinding to a halt rather quickly.

"You need any help down there, orrrrr…?" Yang's teasing voice came through the black haired girl's helmet as she sheathed her newly clean knife once again.

Blake looked up as the adrenaline was starting to wear off and both of the ODSTs were staring at her from the fire escape, the blonde nonchalantly leaning against the worn-down railing.

A smirk formed on Blake's face, however as she stood to her feet holding up four fingers. "That's four, Yang!" She just knew that wiped the shit eating grin right off the blonde's face, even if she couldn't see it.

"Wh-…You-…Uhgh! I can't wait 'til we get to some close quarters action!" Yang ranted, flustered, as she continued up the fire escape to their intended floor, positively fuming at the fact that Blake has started to accumulate a comfortable lead in their game.

"Well, clean or not, you still took care of the problem…" Weiss said with a sly smile that only showed itself when they got under Yang's skin.

The squad leader reached down to offer Blake a hand up the clearly unsafe fire escape as the ground floor ODST walked towards it. "…Now let's go make sure she doesn't get ahead of herself and ruin the plan. I might not like it since it wasn't mine, but that doesn't mean I want us to fail…"

"Yes, Lieutenant…" Blake said with mirth in her voice as she made her way up the ladder with Weiss' help. The edge in her mind slowly fading as the potential threat to their mission was over and dealt with.

* * *

"We're inside…" Blake informed their over watch as she took the lead once again. Yang, in spite of how angry she seemed, having waited for their point man like the plan suggested.

"Alright. As soon as you take out those turrets and snipers on the North West side, we can regroup and get a better look at what we're dealing with." The Spartan said to the team as they quietly stepped their way through the first apartment floor containing their targets.

"So, this floor just has a few turrets, right?" Yang whispered in her headset to the others, sounding almost bored.

"Yes, Yang. And I know what you're going to ask. No, we can't split up just so you and Blake can race to see who gets more kills." Weiss huffed as Yang deflated a bit. Her plan being seen through before she even had a chance to put it into action.

Before Yang could complain further though, Blake stuck up her hand to the side of her helmet and gestured where her ear was, signaling that they should try to listen as she heard something further ahead.

The other two stopped and did as asked from where they stood, but couldn't make anything out. The ravenette then stuck up her index and middle finger signaling two enemies were in the corridor ahead. She then immediately moved back and into a doorway as she gestured for them to get down as well. Just as two Elites passed by the hallway intersection they were coming to, unaware of the team of human soldiers, as they continued their straight path down the T-shaped corridor.

Shortly after letting the patrol group get farther away, the stealthy ODST moved up once again to make sure it was clear. "Ok. Looks good, guys. Just a few more feet and we're at the first turret of this level."

"Better make it quick before those two come back. I'd rather not risk a fire fight if we don't have to." Their leader said as she and Yang caught up with Blake, now approaching the first sight.

"Quick and quiet. My specialty." Blake said with a grin as she got in position to open the door, SMG at the ready in her other hand.

"I bet that's what all the guys like to hear, Blake…" Yang snickered at her own sarcastic remark as she took position on the other side of the door with her sidearm drawn and leveled at the ground.

As Blake started to laugh quietly along with the blonde, Weiss rolled her eyes. "Ugh…You two are like children…" With her DMR at the ready beside Blake, she put her hand on the sergeant's shoulder to signal her advance.

"That's right~! And that makes you momma Schnee!" Yang cracked up as Blake slid the metallic door open, revealing a few startled Grunts and a single Jackal.

Several muffled shots rang out in near unison as bodies littered the floor, leaving the room almost deserted.

"…Just-…Focus on the mission, please!?" Weiss stuttered as the joke caught her off-guard, red lighting up her masked face in embarrassment.

Yang slowly approached the unmanned turret with her weapon drawn, knowing that the Grunt that was previously controlling the weapon was now cowering behind it. "What do you think I'm doing?" She barked teasingly as a sideways grin graced her lips. It was soon replaced with a look of shock and deep fear however, as the Grunt came out from hiding holding a plasma grenade in its hand.

"You coming with m-...!" The alien squeaked out before being silenced by a bullet between the eyes, the grenade falling harmlessly to the floor along with the dead creature.

The blonde clicked her tongue in unfairness at how easy that was, feeling robbed of an actual fight as she lowered her pistol, one round lighter. "Clear!"

"Clear!" Blake also signaled from the entrance, keeping an eye out for that Elite patrol group they had passed before.

"We're clear, Spartan." Weiss informed after getting confirmation from her subordinates, toeing a few bodies to make sure they were dead at her feet.

"Alright. Now dismantle the turret so it's unusable. We can't use explosives obviously, but it should be easy enough. Just remove some wires until the display fizzles out, then make sure they can't put it back in." The woman in black and red explained, as she watched Yang approach their target from her rifle.

Climbing up into the gunner seat, the blonde brawler grinned and cracked her knuckles, her orders sounding like a blast to pull something apart. She ripped off a panel beneath the glowing display to see wires and countless lights, some blinking, others solid, as she thought about where to start.

"Oh! And don't mess with anything glowing! It will either burn you or maybe set off the turret!" The sniper said over their radio, just as Yang was reaching for a blinking dial to pull out.

She had stopped herself just as she heard the new information, but Yang's brow furrowed at the close call. "You wanna warn a girl a little sooner next time? Geeze!"

Yang then heard the Spartan's apology as she decided to mess with some of the wires instead.

After a few tugs, the lights finally dimmed on the control panel and the giant gun was rendered a useless hunk of metal.

"There! One turret down!" Yang cheered as she hopped out of the seat and made her way over to Weiss and Blake who were both keeping watch now.

"So, Blake! That's two more Grunts for me, making four!" The blonde bragged, holding up four fingers as the black haired girl smirked behind her helmet.

"Congratulations. You can count to four now…" Blake said in her sassy monotone voice as Weiss snickered.

"Laugh all you want! I'm catching up~!" Yang boasted back as they started to move forward again.

Blake chuckled again though, knowing something that the taller ODST didn't. "…I'm at six now, Yang."

"Ah-! Ugh, of course you are…I've still got time, though!" The CQC specialist groaned before adopting a more chipper attitude as they continued towards the next site, not letting this new development sway her. Blake smiled from her determination, always enjoying the competitive nature the two shared in their line of work. No matter how immoral their game seemed.

* * *

"Ok, the next floor has a sniper's nest and turret room on adjacent sides of the building overlooking the Northwest. The turret room seems to have more resistance than the other from what I can tell. And patrol patterns may be more frequent around them since they are the only seeable enemy clusters on that floor, so be careful about how you approach this." The ONI operative suggested as she scanned their current floor again.

The ODST squad had finished clearing the first two targeted floors with relative ease as they made their way to the last enemy positions impeding their progress.

Just clearing the stairs that lead them to their final target in this building, the blonde decided to voice her unease about the Spartan's familiar voice to the others. Without sending it over the full team comms, of course.

"Hey, do either of you think the Spartan's voice seems…I don't know, I just can't help but feel like I've heard it before. It's driving me nuts!"

"What, like in passing, or…?" Weiss questioned as she checked an open room to her left, keeping up with the conversation, but also paying attention to each corner they passed.

"I'm not sure…It's like when you're trying to think of a word, and it's on the tip of your tongue, but it won't come out. But I guess it's for your mind in this situation…" The blonde thought dismally as she was losing focus on her rear guard duties.

An elbow came into Yang's chest as she wasn't looking, causing her to bite her tongue and jump with a yelp. "Wha wah ah foor?!"

Blake let out a snort as Weiss turned around to address her reasoning of the jab. "I get it that you want to know who they are, but focus Yang!" The Lieutenant sighed in understanding as she let her anger go. "I also want to know who she is, but you still need to concentrate on the here and now, you dunce! The mission takes priority!" Weiss poked the blonde's visor, not letting the face shield prevent her from making her point.

"Yeah…I know, but it's always in the back of my mind since we found their base. I can't get rid of it for some reason!" Yang complied as she flicked her tongue around to make it stop hurting, but shook her head at the futility of it all as they continued their search quietly. The conversation only happening in their helmets, as very little volume actually came outwards.

"Well, maybe just like with the word on the tip of your tongue, it will come to you when something jogs your memory." Weiss offered, hoping that the conversation would end soon so that they all could have their undivided attention on the mission.

"I hope so…" The blonde chuckled lightly at the idea, finally gripping her sidearm as she began to scan their surroundings with the other two. The echo of the Spartan's identity was still bouncing around in her head, but now after voicing her strife, the need to get an immediate answer seemed less intense in Yang's mind.

* * *

It didn't take much longer after their conversation before Blake, the one still leading the group, spotted their target from a hallway intersection. She remained against the hallway wall with her head just barely poking out as the other two ODSTs stayed back once she put up her fist for them to stop in their tracks.

"She was right about the forces, Lieutenant. They have guards posted outside the objectives as well as at least one patrol." Blake said through the team channel, eyeing the Grunts in front of the thick metal doors before just barely catching sight of a Jackal and Elite heading in the opposite direction as the team.

She felt like having the Spartan as over watch was the right call after all, since they were being given such valuable information. The amber eyed woman's spirits were looking up as everything was going so according to plan. "If we time it right, we may be able to rush them and get out before anyone notices, just like we did that first Elite patrol."

"No, that won't work. We would have to spend an unknown amount of time cleaning up after the guards in front of the doors for when the patrol comes back…" Weiss disagreed, biting her lip as she thought of a solution.

"What did the patrol look like?" The Spartan asked Blake over their comms.

"It was an Elite and Jackal if I'm not mistaken…Why?" The dark haired ODST asked, curious of her plan.

"And the guards…?"

"You want us to take them all out at once?" Weiss interjected with a voice of disbelief, catching onto the ONI operative's plan before the rest.

"It shouldn't be too difficult for the best stealth squad of the 105th!" The black and red Spartan praised, hoping to encourage them to try it.

"And what exactly is stealthy about eliminating every threat you come across?" Weiss retorted.

"I'm just pitching an idea out there! If you've thought of something better, then you're welcome to give it a shot since it's you three that have to be the ones to execute it."

The Schnee bristled in anger at the sniper's response. Feeling patronized since now she was giving Weiss control when the Spartan wasn't even there to enact her own plan. Like a parent telling their kid that they were in charge of the house if they were leaving them alone for a night.

"You know what, I do! If it worked once it can work again!" Weiss told off, thinking of Blake's earlier suggestion again. "We'll take out the guards and storm the rooms separately to save time. That way, we can dismantle the turret and prepare to ambush the patrol when they get back. If we're fast enough, we can eliminate them afterwards instead of all at once."

"But what if-…!"

Weiss cut off the Spartan before she could give her grievances of the plan. "-…Each plan has its own risk and reward, but this is the one I'm going with! You said I could choose since we'll be the ones to execute it, right?"

"I did, but I want to make sure you kn-…!" The Spartan was stopped again before she could talk out the plan with Weiss, only wanting to help.

"Then it's settled! Blake…!" The white haired trooper called out over comms, grabbing the other's attention. "…You will take the southernmost room with the sniper. When you're ready, signal over watch to take out the Jackal while you surprise the rest from behind in a pincer maneuver."

Blake nodded in her understanding as Weiss turned to the blonde beside her. "Yang. We will take the turret room together since there's more resistance there."

"Yes!" Yang fist pumped to herself, hoping that this would be what put her in the lead of Blake with their kill count. "Uh, sorry." She apologized once she realized she interrupted her leader's plan, rubbing the back of her helmet in place of her long golden hair.

"Just get ready everybody. We can't waste any more time with that patrol being gone already." Weiss shook her head at her subordinate's excitement, but couldn't stop the smile the childish action put upon her lips as they moved closer to the corner where Blake spotted the guards.

"Ready when you are, Blake." The sniper said, having little to no problems with Weiss' plan of attack. She settled in and adjusted her scope to keep watch on the sniper in the South room, waiting for Blake's signal.

They stacked up on the corner of the hallway, Weiss at the edge, followed by Yang, then Blake at the rear. "Go!" Weiss signaled as she stepped out and kneeled at the corner, delivering a single shot to the closest Grunt's temple with her suppressed DMR.

Before the other creature could react, Yang stepped out behind her leader and sent two silent shots for its chest, forcing the little alien into the wall with a quiet thud as it breathed its last breath.

The squad quickly stormed their way to their respective doors, Weiss and Yang on each side of the Northernmost, while Blake took her position against hers.

"Blake…" Weiss got her squad mate's attention from the other door, sending her a nod. "…Call it."

The dark haired girl returned the nod with her black and white helmet, clutching her SMG closely as she got ready to move on the door.

"Now!" Blake roared as she slid the door open just as the Jackal sniper's blood littered the floor along the balcony, stirring up the room of Covenant.

Two Grunts and another Jackal with a shield were all that stood in her path from clearing her section.

The ODST burst passed the door and laid a suppressing fire on the shield Jackal as she slid behind an old couch. Not the best cover, but she knew she needed to reduce the distance between her targets to be more effective with her SMG.

Her shots landed harmlessly against the blue pulsing energy shield as the three Covenant returned fire, leaving plasma burns to melt away at the woman's cover.

"Can you see them?!" Blake yelled over the comms to the sniper, hoping for some help as the couch she had her back to started heating up.

"I don't have a good shot, if that's what you're asking! I see an arm! That's all I got from here!" The ONI operative replied, gritting her teeth as she could provide no more aid. An idea struck her, though.

"If you want, I can provide a distraction. Make them panic once they realize they're caught in a crossfire!"

Blake heard her idea, and having no other options as her time behind the burning couch was limited, found no reason to refuse. "Just do it!"

Again, no noise was heard from Blake's side except the shriek of a Jackal as the shield arm it no longer possessed was severed from its body. "Now, Blake!"

The M7S carrying ODST rose from her cover firing a volley of high speed death at the three shocked aliens. One Grunt managed to get a shot off before its body was littered with bullets along with the other two creatures beside it, all three falling into their own mixture of blue and purple blood from the swarm of unavoidable shots.

The plasma bolt that went off grazed Blake's helmet, but left nothing but a scorch mark as the shot went just wide.

Still, the near hit had the trooper buzzing as she checked her helmet for any holes in a panic. Quickly realizing that she was Ok, she glanced back at her kills then scanned the room for anymore threats. "Anything from your angle, over watch?"

"Nada! You're in the clear!"

Blake smiled at the Spartan's unusual chipper attitude, expecting a sterner soldier than this in the face of a battle, especially after all the stories she heard about the super soldiers. Realizing that her room was now clear of hostiles, the black haired ODST decided to report in with the other part of the operation. "Lieutenant. How are things on your end?"

"Yang, I'll flank the Jackal while you stay at the door to cover me! Get ready for an opening!" Blake heard Weiss' voice come through the comms before she answered the stealth specialist's question. "We're a little busy! Would be nice if we had some sniper support!" The white haired girl complained before a grunt came through from some impact on Weiss' side of the radio.

"I'm on it!" the Spartan yipped as she changed her view to see what was going on.

"I'm on my way too!" Blake said as she checked her ammo and made her way to the door, only to hear Weiss' voice cut in one more time…

"Yang, what are you-Yang!"

* * *

 **Sorry this took so long to get out. Next chapter should be out early July to make up for it. Also cliff hanger reasons. Don't want you to lose your grip!**

 **Please send me your thoughts if you could. It helps keep me motivated! Peace!**


	4. Just Like Back Home

**Heyo! Just a heads up. This starts at the beginning of that last breach, but from Weiss and Yang's perspective. Just wanted to clear up any confusion!**

* * *

Chapter 4: Just Like Back Home

* * *

"Now!"

At Blake's call to start the breach, Yang gripped the handle on the metal door, pulling it open for her leader to step forward with her DMR raised. Muffled shots were sent forth as the white haired trooper spotted a few Jackals on the other side of a beat up couch, caught unaware of their presence. The bullets struck one in the back, but the other two had their shields up in time to block the surprise attack.

As Weiss pulled back into cover on the other side of the entryway from Yang, the blonde took a few shots at a Grunt trying to run for cover.

The scared alien shrieked as it realized it was under fire, but just as it approached a suitable wall, the ODST gunning for it finally scored a hit, leaving the Grunt to stumble into the wall face-first as it yelped in gruesome agony, blood draining slowly, but steadily.

Seeing that they were being suppressed in the doorway from the two remaining Jackals, the leader crouched down as she looked over to her squad mate. "I'm gonna need you to give me some covering fire, Yang!"

"On it!" Came the determined soldier's reply as she stuck her pistol out to blind fire without exposing herself.

As the avian creatures put their shields up in fear of being hit, Weiss peaked out and managed to shoot one in the foot, causing it to lose its balance and give the white haired Lieutenant a perfect shot as its shield was lowered.

The Jackal let out a squawk as it fell on its back from the high velocity shot to its chest, tongue lolled out of its head as its squirms slowed to a crawl and then ceased all together.

"Lieutenant. How are things on your end?" Blake's voice came through both of their helmets, as Yang took the time to reload her pistol.

"Yang, I'll flank the Jackal while you stay at the door to cover me! Get ready for an opening!" Weiss called out as she took off for the wall the Grunt tried to get to earlier. She stayed low as she crossed, covering the exposed side of her helmet with her arm up just in case Yang's covering fire wasn't intimidating enough to keep the last Jackal pinned behind its shield. "We're a little busy! Would be nice if we had some sniper support!" The sharpshooter complained as she sprinted into cover, not bothering to slow down as she slammed into the wall with her shoulder once she made it.

The Lieutenant stifled a groan from the impact before looking around her cover, ignoring the confirmation from the sniper and minor throb in her shoulder. As she peered out, Weiss discovered that the Jackal was now trained on her as intended, but also noticed that Yang had yet to take the shot. Gritting her teeth as their opportunity was about to slip away at any moment, she glared back to the blonde still at the door.

"Yang, what are you-Yang!"

Horror struck Weiss' visage as she watched the blonde standing in the doorway drop her pistol and bring her shaking hands out in front of her. They both looked down at the same time to see two thin blueish-white lights extrude from the ODSTs midsection. Red painted the lights as Yang let out a choked gasp, her own blood spattering against the inside of her visor as the illumination inside was blinking dark orange.

The thin, twin lights slid back out the way they came with a sizzling hiss, and Yang fell forward onto her knees and then hands as her weight continued to carry her down. Soon, that grew too much as well, and she collapsed after pushing herself onto her back to gaze up at her attacker.

It seemed the Elite from the earlier patrol had returned. With his energy sword ignited and coated in her blood.

Weiss screamed again for Yang to move, trying to suppress the Elite from moving on her, but just as she raised her gun, the Jackal that they had yet to deal with fired on her with its Needler, causing her to drop her aim in favor of putting her back to the wall again.

The Elite, a major judging by the gold, orange, and red patterned armor it wore, stepped forward as it gave out an enraged roar from finding the interlopers. His fury remained focused on Yang however, once he noticed she was still clinging to life on the ground.

In the next moment, a familiar spray of bullets sounded off from the hallway as Blake rushed out from her cleared room, the Jackal that accompanied the Elite on patrol getting blindsided by the storm of metal, rendering the alien a bloodied mess. All of this mattered little to the Sangheili however, already inside the room and continuing after the wounded human.

Yang held her open wounds, as she struggled slowly away from the approaching Elite. Every movement she made left a painful tearing feeling in the small burning holes in her side, but she kept inching away as she gritted her teeth, an agonizing, shuddering moan leaving her tight lips.

Weiss screamed out her frustrations as she turned to start firing on the Jackal that seemed bent on making her watch her subordinate struggle for her life, utterly helpless to do anything as she would be leaving herself wide open if she ignored the avian threat.

The blonde felt her crimson seep out between her fingers with every inch of space she sought after, but as her eyes were wide with panic, her only thoughts were to keep moving. Kicking. Clawing. Anything to get away from the Covenant soldier that had her outmatched in her weakened state.

Suddenly, doubt creeped into Yang's being as she felt her back be halted by a solid surface. She brought her free hand to it and realized that she had run out of room to flee, the worn down couch still presiding in the apartment blocking her path.

Yang lowered her head and closed her eyes at this before returning to the giant Covenant warrior, bitter resolve all that remained in her fierce lilac orbs. "You better make sure your next attack is a finishing blow, Sangheili. 'Cause I promise mine **will** be if you fuck it up…" The blonde grimaced as she reached for her CQC knife on her chest, the movement upsetting her fresh wounds.

"Your kind always seems to make a big show of their deaths as they approach…" The Sangheili spat out in English, wanting her to understand just how futile her struggling really was, as it took a step closer to the injured ODST with its blade drawn back. "…A pity you never seem to have the strength to back up such brave words…"

Blake heard the guttural taunting just inside the doorway she was approaching, and coupled with how panicked Weiss sounded earlier in the comms, she could only imagine how badly the plan fell apart. Just as she was nearing the threshold to help however, she sensed what felt like an air current had picked up and vanished in the same instant within the hallway, pushing her into the wall on her left. She didn't bother slowing down for it, though. Not when her team was in such dire straits. But what she witnessed as she came to the doorway had her utterly horrified and baffled at the same time.

"…I seem… to do just fine…"

On the ground was Yang, holding her side as she gazed up at the Elite with widened purple orbs.

The Sangheili however, was frozen in place as a new figure had appeared behind him, grappling under and around his shoulder and neck in a half nelson. The next instant, an eight inch blade slid in under the alien's neck armor, bypassing its energy shield. The Sangheili let out a croak as he sank to his knees, his eyes wide and flailing for a view of the new threat. The figure gave him no chance for reprieve though, as they kept pressure on the blade to make sure he was finished.

"Blake… Help Yang…!" A familiar voice exhaustedly called out as the ODSTs recognized their savior. The Spartan, that was just on a far off hill to provide them with overwatch, was now in front of them in a matter of seconds.

Shaking off her surprise from the realization to follow the order, the amber eyed ODST turned her attention to the shallowly breathing squad mate on the ground, filing away her questions for later once Yang was in the clear.

"Yang! How bad is it?!" Blake asked as she gently moved the blonde's hand away from the holes in her abdomen, seeing a bit of blood in her palm as the self-cauterized wound was starting to bleed again from the soldier's struggling.

"Yang?!" Weiss called out as she made a mad dash over to the other side of the downed trooper, having finally dealt with the last Jackal in the room. She fumbled for a pouch on her armor as she quietly muttered her failure before finally managing to open it, revealing a bottle that she gently brought to the wounds.

"Mmmmh!" Yang grimaced as the bio foam was applied to the holes in her side and back, before calming down with a tired sigh as the numbing agents started to kick in.

"Th-That's…Better…" The blonde whispered to the room once she felt like she could relax. Her vision was starting to get hazy as well, as her lids lowered halfway, slowly blinking the tiredness away as they became heavier and heavier.

"Yang! Stay awake! You need to stay awake, please!" The squad leader called out in fear as she noticed the way the blonde's helmet was lolling ever so slightly to the side.

Yang's eyes drearily shifted up to her savior as the Spartan turned to the panicked voice.

"Yang!" The ONI soldier beseeched as she left the dead Elite major, only to sink down in front of the blonde herself.

The wounded ODST closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again, her vision simply a blur as the figure in front of her shifted forward worriedly. She could only make out a small face enshrouded in black through her tired, unclear, gaze, but the sight put a somber smile on her lips nonetheless.

"…R-Ruby…"

They watched Yang sink down against the couch and grow still after uttering the single word that two of them had only ever heard her mumble a few times.

"YANG!?" The Spartan roared in grief stricken rage as she could do nothing but watch the figure in front of her remain still after her call.

As the super soldier's hands balled into fists against her armored knees, Blake slowly took Yang's hand and turned it upwards. After removing the glove and wrist protection from the limb, she pressed her thumb against the vein and waited.

"It's much slower, but there's a pulse. We need to move her to a safer space to rest, now!" Blake explained as the Spartan's head rose to look back at the blonde.

"Let…!* **cough** *…Me do it!" The sniper weakly ordered, trying to get up and help, only to sink back down to one knee and clutch tightly at her chest armor.

"What's wrong?!" Blake asked, as she finally noticed the heavy breathing coming from the Spartan.

"I'm fine! We can…Move Yang to the eastern side of the building…" Another harsh coughing fit left the Spartan's throat again. "…Now let me pick her up!"

"You're in no condition to be carrying her. You can barely carry yourself!" Weiss reprimanded, giving her no room for argument as she took Yang's arm and carefully looped it around herself to carry the unconscious soldier bridal style. She was cautious around the wound as she lifted off from her kneeling position, holding her squad mate up with little trouble.

The Spartan grimaced in both anger and pain as she watched Weiss carry Yang to the door. A hand then appeared in her vision as Blake offered her help getting up.

"Come on. We need to get moving. It's doubtful that any Covenant heard that this many floors up, but we can't risk it when half our team is in decommission."

After a moment of pouting, the ONI operative relented once she glanced back at Yang in Weiss' arms, safe and sound. "…Fine…"

The dark haired ODST pulled the Spartan up from the ground as she took in the ques of harsh breathing and a momentary grasping of the center of her chest from the unknown woman. But her questions were halted as Weiss asked for Blake to take the lead with the red and black armored woman and make sure their path was clear. Her curiosity and patience for the former was soon reaching its limits though.

* * *

"Here should be fine…We can…Check on Yang and take a look at the Covenant's base from the windows while we're at it." The Spartan said, still a little weak, as the group walked into another similarly dilapidated apartment. Blake, who was shouldering some of her weight for her, set her down in a chair that was still serviceable next to the window overlooking the streets of Mt. Glenn.

The Spartan watched Weiss gently lay Yang down on the brown, ripped-up sofa then immediately turn to her with an expectant look. She soon glanced up to Blake only to get the same treatment. "What?"

"What do you mean, what?!" Weiss roared as she stomped over to Blake and the sniper in the seat, not letting her dodge the question any longer.

Before the black and red armored soldier could defend herself, she was cut off as a third party joined in.

"I would like my question answered now…" Blake spoke in a way that demanded everyone's attention, and the room fell completely silent. Except for a dreary sigh that was followed by words of reluctant acceptance.

"…What do you want to know…?" The Spartan faced Blake as she leaned forward in her seat.

"How did you do that back there? Get here so fast, I mean? That ridge is at least half a mile away, and you made it to save Yang even before I could…How?" Blake asked the question that had bewildered her ever since feeling that rush of wind go past her in the hallway, so she had her suspicions, it just didn't make realistic sense.

She knew the question was coming, but the taller woman still couldn't find the words easily. The Spartan took a moment to compose herself before opening her mouth, having never told another soul uninvolved about what she'd been through. "…What was it you said earlier in the forest…? 'If we're to work effectively as a team then you have the right to know about me?' Guess I should return the favor…"

Clasping her hands together in front of herself, the Spartan had mostly regained her breath and composure at this point, but was now faced with a new struggle of deciding where and how to start.

"I'm not your typical Spartan…"

"Well we guessed that! You're way too cheery to be a merciless Covenant killing machine like everyone says." Weiss spouted off as she leaned against the wall next to the window across from the sitting black and red armored woman.

"That's not what I mean!"

Both pairs of ODST eyes locked onto the origin of the raised voice with surprise, not expecting such a harmless phrase to pull out such a response. They could tell that the super soldier was struggling with something though, something that weighed heavily on her as she twitched and rubbed at her arms in a fit that almost seemed like panic.

"…What you saw me do back when Yang was stabbed…O-or, what you didn't see…" The Spartan shook her head frantically as the sentence stopped dead with her mouth gaped, having to force herself to speak the next words. "…The easiest way to explain it -And I know how this sounds!- Is that I can move at speeds beyond human limits…I'm the fastest human being in the known universe…" The sniper gazed sadly at the injured blonde on the couch. "…And I still couldn't save my sister from harm."

Blake and Weiss looked over in the direction of the Spartan's gaze and it suddenly clicked with the two troopers. The familiarity that Yang felt once they met the Spartan. The way she talked to Yang as if she had known her all her life. How grief stricken she sounded once Yang fainted from her wounds…

They had only ever heard Yang talk about her sister in her sleep. Nightmares that she was forced to relive in her slumber they assumed, but they remembered the name. The name that Yang had uttered just before she passed out against the torn up couch…

"Ruby…?"

Yang's helmet shifted to look at the Spartan in the moldy recliner, apparently having been awake for that last bit of dialogue. She tried raising herself up, but a pain thundered up her spine and she was forced into a bout of coughing, having aggravated her near fatal wounds. She clutched around the damaged area that was still hardened over with bio foam as she fell back against the couch, realizing how bad an idea that was to try to sit up.

Almost instantly, the three were at the ODST's side, the Spartan kneeling down next to Yang as the others hovered over her.

"Yang!" Worry, with an edge of happiness that she was awake, filled the sniper's voice as she removed the blonde's helmet for easier breathing.

A line of dried blood was crusted down Yang's lips and the bun she had her golden locks tied in was released into a frayed mess due to the jostling of the headgear. A worried visage met the Spartan as the blonde stared into the blackness of her visor. "I-It is you, isn't it? Ruby?" She shut her eyes tightly in fear that her mind was just playing tricks on her. That this was all just some horrible dream, but as she heard a click and a shuffle of hair against fabric lining, she opened her eyes again.

"It's me…I'm here, Yang!" Ruby spoke as her sister laid eyes on her for the first time in 12 years. The little girl with chubby cheeks no longer existed it seemed, as Ruby had grown up with strong facial features shrouded in shoulder-length, red tipped black hair that she had to tuck behind one ear to keep out of her eyesight. Once she did, Yang was able to make out a deep red scar above Ruby's left silver eye that curved off towards her ear, a few inches long.

Yang's right hand shook as she slowly reached out for her sister's face, scared that once she reached her destination, Ruby would disappear without a trace and she would be left with nothing again. The Spartan latched onto the outstretched hand herself though, and pulled it to her cheek as she smiled. Instantly, Yang pulled her long-lost sister into herself and their foreheads collided as hot, happy tears trailed down her face.

"Rubes…!" Yang choked out through her sobbing as she held Ruby tighter with her right arm, her left hand on her hastily treated battle trauma to keep it steady enough to ignore the pain during such a happy moment.

Ruby smiled at the name in her sister's arm. The jovial expression soon faded to a frown though, as she heard her sister's quiet mumblings of despair.

"Y-You died! I watched you be buried! I can't believe your back!" Yang cried into Ruby's neck as she clutched her long lost sibling harder. She felt Ruby tense up in her hold at the words.

"…I didn't, Yang…That wasn't me…" Confusion was present on Yang's wet face as Ruby pulled out of the embrace and sat beside her prone sister on the couch to begin explaining herself after an internal debate of where to start. "...The car accident… Do you remember…?"

"H-How could I forget? It hospitalized you for the remainder of your life!" Yang said as she shook her head, still not understanding what she meant.

"I wasn't hurt nearly as bad as that, Yang…" Ruby uttered, her sad gaze staring off into nothing as she looked back on that day again.

The Spartan then began to inform her newly reunited sister of what really took place that day after the car accident that forever changed her life. Shortly after being admitted to the hospital for treatment and observation, a six year old Ruby was stolen away by a section of ONI researchers. But not before the group enacted their plan of keeping close relatives in the dark on the matter. Ruby told her sister with sorrowful eyes that the crippled girl Yang stayed beside in that hospital bed was nothing more than a fake. A flash clone created to imitate the one who's DNA they are made from. To look like Ruby. The sad part was that flash clones were known to last very short lives after being produced, as the method is quick and cheap, hence the name.

For almost two years, Yang wept for a hollow copy of her sister before it could no longer function and died at the age of "8", as it was recorded by the hospital logs.

The real Ruby had long since been transported to a secret ONI facility on Remnant where she began her Spartan training, and much more, with other abductees.

* * *

Silence had filled the room as the information settled heavily on the injured ODSTs chest. It pushed her further into the dusty suede sofa as she stared frozen into her sister's dull grey eyes that lost their color almost as soon as she had started talking. So many questions spun around in Yang's head like a furious twister as she realized that she had dealt with, for so many years, the pain of losing her sister for nothing. That her sister was forced away from her family to be used as a guinea pig for God knows what purpose.

"I'm sorry, Yang…" Lilac orbs widened at the apology that came from the Spartan. All the anger directed towards ONI fled away in that moment to be replaced with genuine shock and then sorrow as she realized Ruby was trying to comfort her instead.

"Don't be an idiot…" The blonde's voice carried low as she failed to wipe away a tear. "…I'm the one who should be sorry. I feel so… **Useless** …" Yang bit out, raising her arms from the couch only to let them drop back down, gesturing that she was stuck lying there, unable to get up and hug her little sis without putting her injuries at risk.

Ruby let out an inaudible laugh after processing what her sister meant. Happy to know that after all these years, Yang was still the overbearing protective big sister that she used to know and love. "You're not useless, Yang…" She said as she reached down and grabbed her sister's hand softly, sending her a loving smile. "…See? I feel better already."

Yang returned the smile after a moment and clutched at the hand now in her grasp, wanting to help put the Spartan's mind at ease. It wasn't enough of an effort to the older sibling though, as she reached up to try and bring Ruby into a hug regardless of the consequences.

The blonde put one arm behind her to help lift her upper body off the sofa as the other remained with her sister. The action forced her to bend slightly, putting pressure on her abdominal region. Right next to the fresh wounds as it felt like someone shoved a red hot fire poker into her side. She seized up with a grimace present on her face as a shuddering grunt escaped her lips.

"Yang, you can't move like that! You're only going to make things worse if you keep this up! Chill out and let us make sure you're ok!" Ruby demanded as she laid her sister back down on the couch, not taking no for an answer.

Standing up after she made sure Yang stayed put, the red head fished for something in a pouch on her hip until she found what she was looking for.

"You have medical training?" Blake asked, a little bewildered as the Spartan swiftly pulled out some gauze and other essential medical supplies from her armor.

"It helps to know a bit of everything when you go on mostly solo missions…" Ruby replied as she sent Yang a look that told her to not even try resisting.

Forcing her eye contact away from the serious molten silver, Yang reached a hand over to her side to prod the injury. "…I-It doesn't even hu-…!" She shut her eyes out of instinct as the area she put pressure on throbbed against her hand, unable to withhold the pain from her sister's view.

"Hold still." The redhead uttered patronizingly as she reached out for the armor straps. "We have plenty of time to take care of you before we have to move out again."

The blonde began to struggle again though, realizing that she didn't know how long she had set the team back with time. "How long was I out?"

Seeing it in her sister's concerned purple orbs, Ruby did her best to quell her worries.

"Don't worry, Yang. We still have to come up with a strategy for getting onto that ship. So we'll be here for a little while longer…You could use the rest anyways…" Ruby finished with a satisfied smile, finally getting her way as she began to take the ODST's armor plating off so she could see what she was doing.

Usually, Yang hated being babied, feeling like it was her responsibility to look after herself after years of growing up that way, but as Ruby set her chest plate to the side and put a hand gently next to the holes, all she felt was relief.

With just the Kevlar inner layer of the armor covering Yang's torso, Ruby began cleaning the half open wounds left behind after the bio foam had served its purpose of a quick patch job.

Yang softly smiled down at her sister as she watched her face harden up in concentration. Never, in a million years, did she think she would ever see her little sister again. Not only was she alive and well though, she was also one of the strongest, bravest beings humanity knew of, currently thinking of a way to save their home planet from near-certain destruction. _'Ruby…'_ Her eyes became like liquid glass as she kept staring at her sister who was really and truly there. So proud of what Ruby had become in the years away from home.

"Yang?" Blake softly called out, noticing the tears.

"Mmmh…It's nothing." The blonde shook her head after wiping the tears away, her smile unyielding as Ruby never even looked away from the wound.

"C'mon, Blake. Let's go scout what we can from the windows…" Weiss suggested gracefully, rising up and tugging on her squad mate's arm as she decided to give the two siblings some time to themselves.

* * *

"You haven't changed a bit…" Ruby whispered as she continued cleaning the wounds now clear of the bi-product of the previous first aid. It was unintentional for Yang to hear her words, but the blonde heard them regardless.

A short, boisterous laugh spilled from Yang's lips before she cringed in pain from her ribs moving. "Ehgh-…It hurts to laugh…Hmhmm…"

"You idiot! Stop moving! Are you trying to reopen the wounds and bleed out!?" The crimsonette reprimanded as she smacked her sister lightly on the shoulder before checking to make sure the wound didn't get worse.

"Heh-heh…I'm sorry. I just…I had the same thought about you…" Yang breathed out through the laughter and pain mixing together. Her smile persisting, however. "All the scrapes and bruises I would earn back home when we were just kids getting into all kinds of trouble…I never had to worry, cause I knew you would be there with one of those cute little puppy dog band-aids."

"Well, one of us had to be responsible…" Ruby mumbled humorously, a wry smile cracking the corner of her mouth.

"Oh, bullshit! You got hurt just as much as I did!" Yang defended with a grin.

"Hey, I was 4! What's your excuse?!" Ruby asked in a higher pitched, prickly tone, momentarily forgetting about the wound as she put more pressure on it.

"W-Owwww! What the hell?! I thought you were supposed to be fixing me, not making it worse?!" The blonde yelped in pain as her sister moved her hand away in shock.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm s-…!" The Spartan began apologizing before she stopped at the sound of a playful snicker. Her face lit up like a tomato as she realized she was tricked. Ruby's eyes narrowed in anger, letting out an annoyed groan as she contemplated really making the blonde's wound hurt.

"Hm hmh… Sorry, Rubes. It didn't really hurt that much, but I just couldn't resist the chance to tease you again! Making up for lost time and all that!" Yang continued to chuckle as she waved a hand back and forth after seeing Ruby keep up her upset manner.

Ruby slowly went back to treating her sister. Having calmed a bit from the apology and the nickname Yang used once again. Her cheeks however, still remained slightly tinged like her namesake from irritation. And the attitude only made Yang more positive in her mind as she remembered their times together.

"It really is you, huh…?" The blonde rhetorically asked to herself in a wistful voice as she gazed at her baby sister all grown up.

There was a beat of silence between the two, before the younger one replied.

"I have a hard time believing it myself, honestly…" Ruby uttered as she zoned out during her stitch work of the two perforations. _'All the things I've had to live with…'_

"…Ruby?" Yang asked after a small whimper left her lips as the needle pierced her skin, sensing something off in her sister's greys.

The question went unnoticed in her daze, but her attention was brought back when the Spartan heard a hiss of pain escape her sister. "I-I'm sorry, Yang!" She apologized after she realized her mistake, having gone in too deep with the stitching needle, drawing more blood. "Damnit, I'm such a klutz!"

Yang breathed out a laugh at the self-deprecation and softly smiled at Ruby, glad to see the far off stare had been wiped away from her sister's face. "Take your time, Rubes. I'm not going anywhere…"

The reassurance put a grin on the red head's lips as she listened to the advice, giving it her full concentration this time.

* * *

In no time at all, the red and black Spartan had the trooper stitched up and bandaged on both the back and front sides. She even helped her sister with her armor once she was done, demanding that she help so Yang didn't upset the new dressings by herself.

Ruby had taken a look at the internal damage from the attack as well, and while she was no medical expert -besides the few patch jobs she had to perform in the field- she was pretty sure that the Elite had managed to just miss Yang's left kidney by some stroke of luck. Rendering the potentially fatal wound to nothing but a bad scar once completely healed.

The Spartan had never had to perform surgery before, and she certainly didn't want to start on her sister of all people…

"Now try not to move around too much while we come up with a plan, Yang. I did a pretty good job at making the dressings secure, but there's no need to test it if we don't have to." Ruby advised as she helped her sister into a sitting position so she could contribute with the team. They still had a mission to accomplish, after all. And reuniting with her sister wasn't the reason they were there in that desolate city.

"Yeah, I get it, alright…No crazy shit. Let's just take out an entire Covie ship nice and easy like!" Yang snarked as she leaned against the back of the couch while the other three women surveyed the outside forces from the windows.

"Trust me, Yang. The hardest part will be in finding a way on and then off the ship once we take it down. The rest is a cake walk as long as we remain undetected, and we're a team of stealth masters, right?" Ruby said as she leveled her SRS99D-S2 AM sniper rifle, checking the streets below them before whipping up and across in the direction of the ship hovering high over the entire city.

"You say that like you've done this before…" Weiss muttered dismissively as she tapped on the side of her helmet to adjust the 5x enhanced zoom, more fitting than the 3x on her DMR when simply scouting. She was slightly more trusting of the ONI Spartan once her identity was revealed as the blonde's younger sister, but that didn't mean she had to like her _and_ trust her.

"Once…On a smaller vessel…"

Weiss hummed suspiciously as she didn't like how quiet the woman with the sniper rifle was. "How small…?"

"A…DSC-class support ship…I was sent to sabotage their fleet's food resources…" Ruby explained, shame hidden well within her voice.

"What the hell kind of ops does ONI send you on?" Weiss almost spat, aghast at the dirty tactic. But she supposed that the Covenant weren't much better with the orbital bombardments that turned their worlds to smoking craters.

"Whatever they need me for…Whatever they think suites my expertise…" The black and red recon specialist swallowed thickly as she tried to remain on the task at hand while still answering the Lieutenant's question. "…We all know what must be done to stop the Covenant. To keep our worlds, and the ones we love, safe from harm…"

Weiss and Blake shared a glance before shifting back to the woman with a scope still in her face. Yang had been staring at Ruby that entire time, but after the red head finished, she looked down at her side and brought her right hand from her bandaged wound to join it with the other one in her lap. Now that war machine comment that Weiss had made was sounding closer to the truth than they originally realized.

Shoving down the similarities between Ruby and her late family that got caught up in the Insurrectionists, Blake looked back down through the window to get her mind off of it. Searching for anything else that might change the topic as she scoured the streets and buildings below. She spotted a few patrolling Grunts with an Elite, and started to continue on -as that was far from the first the group had seen- before something caught her eye and she came back to them. With the max zoom setting, the ODST focused on what she caught a glimpse of, and sure enough, she was right.

"Down there! North Northeast. A few blocks away from that billboard. See that patrol?" Blake called out to the group, pointing for good measure.

"What about th-…" Weiss began to disregard the information, as she had seen half a dozen patrols at that point, but halted her tongue as she spotted what her squad mate had before her. "I-Is that…?"

"Good eye, Blake! It's something to go on, that's for sure!" The Spartan congratulated as she slung her rifle to her back, happy to be off the previous talk if her smile was any indication.

"Tha-…" Blake started to show gratitude with a shy smile, but was stopped by a louder, more persistent, voice.

"What is it?! A way on the ship?" Yang pleaded, as she remained unwillingly on the couch like her sister ordered, unable to see from her angle.

"Not quite, but it could solve one of our problems." Ruby grinned as she walked over to Yang and sat beside her. "You ready to kick some butt?" The Spartan asked as she handed the blonde her helmet back.

"I thought I should be taking it easy?" It wasn't that Yang was refusing, of course, as she hesitantly took the offered helmet from Ruby. She was just surprised by her sister's sudden change of mind from wanting her to rest.

"We can't do this without you, sis. And even if we could, I still wouldn't want to." Ruby said as her smirk changed to an endearing smile.

Yang saw the look before she gazed down at the white ODST helmet in her grasp and smiled softly. "…Well, if my little sis needs me, then how can I say no?"

Ruby brought a gentle hand to Yang's shoulder as she squeezed assuredly, hoping to instill as much confidence as she could that the trooper would be fine. She then brought her left wrist up and began tapping away at her TACPAD as the other two ODSTs gathered around. Weiss, in the chair, and Blake, on the other side of Yang.

"Updating your waypoints now. This is the new objective marker." Ruby explained as she tapped on her screen to confirm it for the rest. "I believe it's a power cable running to something pretty big. Maybe the main terminal for the Covenant's energy dome. But before we get carried away, let me remind you all that this isn't our main mission, but a secondary. Our primary focus is still to find a way onto that ship, and I believe they should have a gravitational lift somewhere in the vicinity of the shield terminal as well. It's easier to guard two important points if you stick them together, after all."

"Ok, but doesn't that make our job harder? The Covenant have got to be swarming around that area!" Weiss warned, still not seeing how their new leader from ONI can act so confident in the face of impossible odds.

"Oh, most definitely! But that's perfect! The problem with having such a cluster of forces in one location, is that if you were to saaaay~…Cause an explosion, then what's it matter?" The ONI operative smiled arrogantly as she high-fived her sister next to her.

"Alright! Sounds like a plan, sis!" Yang agreed, excited to hear that they could finally go loud on their mission.

"What happened to the stealth?! I thought we agreed to remain undetected?!" Weiss roared as Blake shook her head silently, wanting no part in the argument.

"They're going to be aware of something, that's true, but as long as we remain out of their sight, they'll never touch us, Weiss." Ruby shrugged, finding it a simple matter.

"And you're sure we can do that? With Yang being injured like she is? You're putting her in more danger, you realize that, don't you?" Weiss jutted her helmet towards the blonde and Ruby followed the gesture.

"I'm fine, Weiss. I'll do my part, and I refuse to slow anyone down, so count me in!" Yang broke into the conversation, determination and a hint of pleading in her lilac eyes.

"That's two!" Ruby cheered as she glanced with a hopeful smile at the other side of Yang, to Blake.

The ravenette looked away as soon as the silver eyes were on her, staring towards Weiss as she hesitated, before giving an uneasy shrug. "It sounds doable, and she hasn't been wrong yet…"

Weiss internally sighed as she rolled her eyes. _'Well, so much for knowing who the real squad leader is…'_

"Fine…Ruby…" The ODST leader let the name quietly fall from her tongue as she reluctantly tested it. _'Nope. Never again…'_

"Alright then! Let's get going. We have a lot of ground to cover slowly if we want to catch them in a surprise attack." Ruby chirped as she donned her red and black recon helmet then stood up and offered her sister a hand.

"Right behind ya, little sis!" Yang beamed as she accepted the hand. She winced in pain as she began to rise though. And purple met silver in a competition of unease as Ruby gently coaxed her sister up to her feet with the help of her right hand as well.

"Can you make it?"

The muffled words from her sister were soft, and Yang couldn't tell if they were hushed to hide the question from the other two, or if it was out of fear that she wouldn't be able to help with the mission.

The CQC expert stared into the helmet in her right hand and spotted the spatter of blood still dried against the visor. The sight brought a quick breath in the form of a sigh from her, but it wasn't enough to erase the smile that had yet to leave her face since holding her sister once again. Quickly wiping it clear, Yang brought the helmet to her head and lowered it. Deciding not to answer Ruby's question verbally, the blonde gave a singular, stern nod.

"Ok." The smile was audible in the single word uttered by the redhead. She then gave Yang a few pats on the shoulder as a nudge towards their objective, and the ODST followed.

As the two siblings made their way to the door, Ruby was poking at Yang's side to make sure her wound was alright, giggling abashedly as it brought a playful glare from her blonde sister who told her to cut it out.

Weiss and Blake followed shortly behind, watching the display that made it clear in their minds that if you never knew about it, you would think that the sisters had never been separated for so long. One however, still had a question for the Spartan that had gone without an answer during the identity reveal.

Amber eyes cautiously searched for any more signs of weakness in the Spartan's movements as they made their way down the towering building…

* * *

 **Ruby's the Spartan. Shocker! xD With super speed as well. No, it's not her semblance. This is a crossover, so let's say I took some things from the Halo universe and RWBY. Just not everything. If you have questions feel free to ask.**

 **Until next time, peace!**


	5. Into The Fray

**I'm Baaaaaaack! RTX was awesome! I was able to get a picture with Barbara. Unfortunately though, she was the only one I got a pic with...Maybe next year I'll get a picture with Arryn. Oh well. Time to focus on the story. I hope you like it!**

* * *

Chapter 5: Into the Fray

"How's the side, Yang?" Ruby asked her sister as they made it back down into the original alleyway, analyzing every movement as the ODST hopped down the ladder only to wince in pain from the action.

"It's… Better…" The blonde said slowly, through what sounded like gritted teeth to Ruby, as she turned around to be met with the Spartan looking back at her.

"It doesn't sound better… Just promise me you'll say so if something's wrong, ok?" The inflection in the Spartan's voice was one of worry as she clutched her battle rifle tightly.

Yang let out a soft laugh as she passed her sister by, forcing herself to resist cradling her side. She answered Ruby as she continued down the alleyway still littered with trash, making her way to the edge of the buildings. "I'll be fine. I have you to look after me. Don't I, sis?"

The words brought mixed emotions to the red head, as she was glad that her sister still believed in her after all these years growing up apart from each other, but also worried that Yang wasn't taking her condition seriously. Before Ruby could voice her concerns on the matter though, a voice behind her at the ladder caught her attention as it called for her.

"Why not show the same level of concern with yourself, Spartan?" Blake asked, now unsure of what to call the newly revealed sibling of her squad mate. Deciding to go with the informal ranking of the red head's affiliation seemed like the best bet to the silent ODST.

As Ruby turned to face the questioning ODST, Blake continued now having her attention. "Don't think we'll just forget about how you nearly collapsed yourself after Yang did… You get hit when we met?"

The recon helmet swiveled to Yang for a moment before going back to Blake. "N-No. Nothing like that! I was…Just out of breath! I-I might be the fastest human alive, but that doesn't mean a long sprint isn't still tiring! Heh, heheh…" An unconfident, uneasy giggle left the Spartan woman as she rubbed the back of her helmet, clearly hiding something.

The air filled with a suffocating smog of doubt as the three ODSTs stared the super soldier in question down, knowing full well she was lying.

"That hilltop you were at was maybe. Maybe! Three quarters to a mile away from our location. Even counting the stairs you had to climb, that's nothing to a fully trained marine. To us! But you're a freaking Spartan! You expect us to believe that that made you nearly pass out?!" Weiss spouted off in disbelief as she joined in the questioning.

Instead of pushing her case and trying to lie her way out of this further, Ruby knew it would never work with the hole she already dug herself in. So with a silent sigh, she carried on in her sister's direction near the alleyway exit. "It takes its toll, ok? What I'm capable of… I can't just casually use it whenever I want to. It has consequences. And not the trouble with the higher-ups kind of consequences…"

"Like the fainting." Blake said factually, trying to get more information out of the ONI operative.

"Yes…I get dizzy. And the longer I use it, or the more times I use it without a rest, the worse it gets-But I'm fine now! I'm good to go, you don't have to worry about me. Let's just focus on the mission, please!" The Spartan pleaded as she made it to her sister, urgency in her voice that none seemed too suspicious of.

"Ok…But now that promise goes both ways, Rubes. We're here for each other. It's not just one way, got it?" Yang grabbed her younger sister's shoulder and leaned up to bump their helmets together, sealing the promise.

"Got it…" Ruby's answer was quiet, but happy as they remained in the hold for a moment longer.

"Speaking of the mission... Have you even thought of what we're going to use to cause an explosion? Unless you have some high-grade explosives packed away along with your medical supplies, I don't think the standard frag is gonna cut it…" Weiss chimed into their moment, having no patience as she cocked her hip slightly.

"I'm sure we can figure something out!" Ruby sang as she came out of the embrace with her sister, nonplussed as her unshakable confidence was getting on the white haired woman's nerves.

The crimson haired woman then signaled for Blake and Yang to cross the street as she and Weiss stayed behind to cover their approach.

Making it to the other side and to a large cylindrical column in front of a once-fancy hotel to hide behind, the black and blonde haired women stayed there to help cover the other two as they moved up separately.

Weiss grumbled under her breath as she rushed to her squad's location. She held her position next to Blake and Yang as they covered for the Spartan next, but she heard the quieter girl beside her call her name.

"Weiss, give her a fair chance already. She's ONI, but we also know that she's related to Yang and seems to really care about her well-being. How bad could it be to trust her a little bit?"

"She's-…! She's too…Carefree…!" Weiss stumbled with articulating what she thought of the dark haired Spartan. "How can having a leader like her be good for us? She's skilled. I'll give her that, but her plans are so lacking in any real thought, I'm not sure she's ever been in charge of a squad before!"

Ruby was starting to cross the street as Blake gave Weiss a disbelieving look. Even though her white and black helmet shrouded the deadpan stare, the Lieutenant could still sense it as the black haired woman looked right at her for a moment before she began to speak.

"She's…eccentric… But that doesn't mean she's a bad leader, Weiss. Instead of fighting her every idea, why not try to help her think out the plan? The faster we start working like an actual team the better chance this mission has for success."

"Yeah! Lighten up, boss! She knows what she's doing." Yang chirped as she hi-jacked the conversation, having heard every word only a foot away from the two.

"Of course you think so…She's your sister…" Weiss mumbled unfairly as the Spartan finally made it to their side of the cracked and overgrown pavement. The white haired woman looked thoughtfully towards the Spartan as she signaled for the ODSTs to keep moving up the street towards their objective.

"For the success of the mission…" Weiss finally sighed out begrudgingly as she followed.

* * *

"The patrol should be gone for the moment. Move up, Blake!" Ruby directed as they reached the corner they originally saw the giant purple power cords located. They had waited for the previous Covenant patrol to pass by once more to make sure they had no issues getting past.

"Moving!" The ODST called out as she sprinted to new cover across the way. She stopped behind a car parked in disrepair and looked down the street where the energy lines were running from…and then upwards… "…Woah…"

"What is it, Sergeant?" The Spartan asked as they all heard the word muttered.

Not finding an immediate answer like she wanted, the red head quickly moved up to another car in the road to get a closer look for herself as she discovered the street to be all but deserted for now.

"…It's just…Bigger than I thought it would be up close…" Blake eventually got out, staring up at the massive Covenant cruiser just above the city. With the buildings covering most of the sky as they traveled through the heart of the city, it was hard to catch a glimpse of the vessel until they came right under it.

The raven haired woman was pulled out of her gawking as a hand came to her shoulder. She looked over and up to see the Spartan staring up to the sky as well.

"First time seeing one inside orbit, I take it?" Ruby asked rhetorically as she could see the answer in her unwillingness to look away from the colossal starship.

The others soon joined behind the pair, taking it from the ONI operative that it was safe to do so as they also wanted to know what was ahead just as badly.

"Well of course it is! It's huge! It's as long as the cityscape is tall!" The Schnee's words came out in exasperation as well as amazement, having seen the ship span across the skyline.

"Well. Good news and bad news…" The playful way the ominous phrase was delivered captured each of their attention as the Spartan pointed forwards, down the street to direct them. "…Bad news is that the terminal's not here. Good news… I know where to find it…"

A giant metallic plateau embedded into the streets of Mt. Glenn lied before them, definitely foreign in design compared to the mostly rustic brick architecture of the city. An almost magical blueish purple light emanated from the platform, rising into the sky directly towards the Covenant ship above. Unlike the outskirts of the desolate city however, the area around the grav-lift was far from deserted.

"Great…" Weiss let out a tired sigh as she followed her commander's gesture and bore witness to the mass of enemy forces coming and going around their current objective. "Behind enemy lines I can handle, but stuck on a ship swarming with hostiles with no clear way around…?" The Lieutenant was at her wits end with this plan. It was clear that Ruby was related to Yang now. Because only someone as reckless and daring as Yang could go aboard a Covenant ship armed simply with a smile. There had to be something she was overlooking that would make the Spartan so confident in their abilities to want to try this.

As if to answer this thought, Ruby turned to the leader of Ghost squad, her red and black helmet tilted similarly to a dogs when confused.

"Who says we'll be going in blind? I've got this covered, Weiss. Trust me, will you?" Ruby asked as she jerked her head towards the grav-lift, signaling them to move out.

Weiss opened her mouth to refute this, but glanced at her teammates between Ruby and herself, both staring at her as well. "Alright. Alright! But I would like to talk things out with you so that we're all clear and agree with the plan beforehand. I would feel a lot more comfortable if I had a say in what we're about to do. Fair?" As a sign of good will, the officer threw her hand out to the Spartan.

"Fair!" Ruby said as she took the hand and shook it fast. A wide grin on her face as she thought she was finally getting through to Weiss.

"Let's get going, then! That patrol could be back any second and we're not exactly in the most inconspicuous of places..." The Spartan rushed out, referring to the side of the street with several hostiles only four to five hundred feet away. Sure this was a once busy main street with dozens of broken down cars for cover, but one good eye on them and their cover would be blown early.

With this in mind, the group proceeded, cautiously, closer to the cluster of enemy forces. Using as much cover from the overturned rubble and wreckage on the road way as possible to shield their positions. Yang followed beside Blake as Weiss took up the rear with Ruby following behind her sister.

Weiss was crouched low as she moved against a black sedan with her DMR at the ready, strafing over the quiet street. The Lieutenant heard brief movement directly in front of her as she turned to check their backs, but when she turned back around towards the source, their leader was no longer in between her and Yang, but on top of a dysfunctional box truck and reaching for her sniper rifle.

"What are you doing?!" The Schnee whisper-yelled as the Spartan went prone atop the white and black truck.

"Finding a better vantage point. I'm a sniper, remember?" Ruby answered shortly as she checked down her scope to view the enemy forces better.

The masses of Elites, Grunts, and Jackals didn't appear to be on high alert quite yet, so the plan still seemed to be in motion as long as she was able to guide Ghost squad closer to enact it before becoming compromised.

Biting her tongue before a nasty remark came forth from her lips, Weiss shook her head to calm herself as the group halted with this new alteration to the plan. "Well then, what do you see? Anything to blow up?" The Lieutenant ended in an exasperated tone, still not liking the 'going loud' plan.

"Uhh… A plasma battery or two, but I don't know if that will-…"

The three ODSTs stared at what they could see of the Spartan on top of the truck before honing in on the blonde older sister. She looked between the other two rapidly after realizing they were staring, wanting an answer as to why her sister abruptly stopped.

"H-Hey don't look at me!" Yang waved her hands in front of herself, then jerked her head up to question her sister. "Ruby? What is it?!"

"…" Ruby bit her lip as she kept her vision on what she found floating down the gravity lift. _'…I guess they do know…Ohh boy…'_

"Spartan?!" Weiss yelled into her comms, the shrill voice ringing in all of their ears as the feedback bled through.

Ruby flinched and sank in on herself as the ringing persisted. Clenching her eyes closed, she had no choice but to pay attention to what the Lieutenant wanted. "Geeze! What is it, Weiss?!"

"You spaced out mid-sentence! What. Did. You. See?!" Weiss returned two-fold, having no qualms about yelling again if it got her to focus.

"…Zealots…" The answer was soft and quiet, but teeming with dread as the cold word left Ruby's lips.

A moment went by as the team stared up at the box truck without uttering a word.

Finally, Blake broke the silence with incredulity. "That's…What? What are **Zealots** doing on Remnant?"

"There's no way! Are you sure it's Zealots and not just spec ops look-a-likes?" Yang asked, just as baffled as her teammate.

"I would never make that error, Yang…" Ruby answered as she stayed glued to her rifle, watching the pair of Maroon-cast Sangheili warriors with ornamental helmets stepping down the platform and move out of view from her line of sight.

"You're with ONI, Spartan. So, tell us. Why would Zealots come to our little world?" Weiss asked, knowing that if anyone knew of the Covenant's motives, it would be the Office of Naval Intelligence.

"…That's clas-…"

"Bullshit! We're risking our lives here, and you won't tell us why?!" The leader of Ghost squad roared, interrupting the Spartan before she could finish her reasoning.

"Ruby…What's going on?" Yang tried, using as soft a tone as she could muster to get through to her younger sister.

"…It's classified, Yang…Please understand. There are some things that I can't get away with divulging…" Ruby felt her heart hammering against her ribcage again, but the unease had nothing to do with her unique ability. "I'll tell you what I can, when I can. I promise."

Weiss let out an irritable huff after being kept in the dark once again. "…You'd think that ONI would have learned by now that it's better to share some information than to keep it a secret…" The Lieutenant then continued, her voice fixed solely on the sniper. "So what now, Spartan? Any changes to the plan now that the Covenant have Zealots searching for the real reason ONI sent you here?"

If the squad leader's question had any impact on the Spartan, Ruby didn't show it, as she got on her hands and knees to dismount the truck, landing quietly next to Weiss with her sniper rifle tucked on her back once again. "No. Nothing's changed. The ship's still our primary threat."

"So you weren't just here to take out the ship. You're guarding something. Something that ONI already has?" Blake inquired, already having figured it out, but just wanting to make sure.

"That's classified~." Ruby teased with a giggle following up as she could just sense Weiss hunch over in annoyance. With a wave, she signaled for the rest to follow her closer to the platform, confident that the Zealots were now given enough time to no longer be within striking distance if they enacted the plan.

* * *

A lackadaisical Grunt shuffled along behind another, both led by a purple Elite as they watched the perimeter from atop the gravitational platform. A quick, uninterested scan across the ruined streets of this dump of a city gave no indication of threats. Taking a large inhale of its methane re-breather, the diminutive Unggoy let out a bored sigh before it jumped from the leading Elite's aggravated growl and piercing glare.

"No slacking off!" The Elite barked out in its native language, ire in its guttural tone. "We are to keep an eye out and protect the lift for when the chosen ones return with the relic. I won't have your carelessness keep me held back any lon-…!"

The tongue lashing was put to a halt as a gentle metallic thud sounded off beside the second Grunt's feet. The group looked down and stared as a white hot ball glued itself to the platform below them and next to the Grav-lift's extra fuel source…The plasma batteries.

 ***Ba-Boom!** *

The sky lit up with a blue cloud of flame and sparks as the plasma grenade went off, causing a chain reaction sizeable enough to engulf the entire platform, killing all caught within.

"Nice throw, sis! Where did ya get the sticky, though?" Yang rushed out as she and the other three women charged the platform from their concealed position, only slightly lagging behind.

Caught completely unawares, the remaining Covenant gathered around the entry to their vessel were sluggish in mounting a worthwhile defense. An Unggoy major hastily jumped onto a plasma turret, only to slip its pudgy leg on the pedal and nearly fall off before regaining its footing. It whirred the cannon around towards the fast approaching threat and sent a storm of plasma their way.

"I got it from that Elite! You know, the one that nearly killed you?!" Ruby teased as she dove away from the fire and rolled to a stop behind a beaten up truck to then bring up her BR55HB rifle. Her bullets glanced of the shimmering blue shields of the turret unfortunately to no effect, as the Grunt continued to focus fire on her truck.

"You couldn't have mentioned this sooner when we came up with the plan?!" Weiss yelled over the gun fire, her and Blake dealing with a group of Elites that were pressing on their location behind an overturned ice cream truck.

"Hey, I said I would create the signal! I didn't think how really mattered! Glad I picked it up, though. Didn't really see it becoming this useful on a stealth mission, but you just never know. It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it!" Ruby shouted back over the comms, motioning for Yang to move from her spot behind a crumbling building and closer to that rapid fire plasma turret.

A boisterous laugh broke out over the group's comm channel as Yang slid in behind a shell of a once pristine sports car. "Hey! It seems you two have more in common than you thought, Weiss!"

"Shut it, Yang!" The Lieutenant defended instantly, having little time to deal with this as the two fearless Sangheili were growing ever closer to their flanks. "Blake! Covering fire! Get them to stop, that's all I need!" Weiss ordered as she gripped her DMR tighter in preparation.

Wordlessly, the dark haired soldier peered out from behind the hood of the white truck and started unloading her weapon on the group.

The Elites shielded their face with their empty hands as they stopped from the surprise fire. But as they noticed that their shields were able to take the abuse, a confident grunt left one of them as it raised its other hand holding its plasma rifle, ready to return fire on the much less protected human.

It never got the chance though, as from the other side of the truck came 3 quieted shots that all landed against the front Elite's head, shattering through the remainder of its energy shield and painting the rubble with grey matter.

Blake didn't have to look to know it was Weiss on the opposite side taking the flank, too busy pulling out her side arm to take out the last weakened Elite that had managed to return fire on the newest threat, her squad leader.

As its body fell to the asphalt, Blake reloaded her M7S, safely behind the truck once again. "Weiss you good?"

"I-I'm fine. He hit me dead center, but the plate stopped it. Should have moved back into cover while I still could…" Weiss answered as she took her hand back from her chest plate to see soot gathered in her palm.

"No sense dwelling on it, now." Blake said, before Ruby's voice came through the team's channel.

"Yang! Draw the turret's fire so I can get a better shot!" The Spartan didn't even flinch as a singular bolt of plasma sparked off the side of the truck and struck the dirt at her feet.

"On it!" Came the blonde sister's short reply before she leveled her M6C/SOCOM pistol and sent forth a few shots that veered harmlessly off of the vibrant shielding covering the front of the plasma cannon. Yang grinned in triumph as her plan worked, but she soon realized what that meant as a curse passed her lips, seeing the turret swivel in her direction.

Watching the blonde duck down into cover just as a hale of white hot plasma struck the side of the car she was hidden behind, Ruby peeked out to find a possible weak spot now that she was no longer suppressed. "…Gotcha!" The cheer was said under her breath as she lined up the shot with the stubby arm exposed now that the front shield had shifted towards her sister.

A burst of three shots rang out as the sniper fired her battle rifle, scoring two against the tiny alien as one went high from the recoil. It did exactly what Ruby expected though, as the Unggoy retracted its arm from the controls to grasp its wound, only to expose its head from behind the shield as it hunched in pain.

*Pa-pa-pap!*

Ruby fired once again as the Grunt major was thrown from its seat, luminescent blue blood spraying against the gun and ground.

"Move up, Ghost squad!"

Hearing the call, the three ODST tore from their positions and rushed towards the ramp that led up the cindering platform still intact from the explosion. Dealing with the few remnants of Covenant forces that remained scattered and broken without their leaders along the way.

* * *

"And you thought I wouldn't get any use out of Ember!" Yang chided Blake with a grin prominent in her tone as she chambered a new round, the old casing spinning out with a trail of smoke after being used on an unlucky Grunt that crossed the blonde's path up the platform.

"My apologies…" The ravenette said with an eye roll and soft smile as they checked to make sure nothing survived their assault.

"I think we're clear." Weiss reported as she lowered her DMR, eyeing the Spartan shoulder her own rifle as she joined them.

"Seems like it! Yang, how's the side?" The ONI soldier asked her sister, having witnessed no problems after the CQC expert's first combat experience with the injury.

"I'll manage…Just gotta remember to be careful with the kick on my baby!" Yang cooed as she held her M90 shotgun closer to her face as if she was having a conversation with it.

"I'm glad. So, you ready to board?" Ruby smiled at the news as she starting walking past the group towards the center of the grav-lift.

"I don't see any controls…How do we-…?" Blake's pondering was brought to a halt as she witnessed the Spartan take to the air effortlessly.

Spinning around, the ONI operative faced the team to explain, a grin in her voice as she ascended. "All you have to do is stand near the center!"

Without a second thought, Yang took off into a sprint, jumping as high as she could once she made it to the spot her sister started to rise from. A moment of uncertainty entered the blonde's mind once she reached the apex of her jump, but just as she was starting to think about bracing herself, she only kept climbing in the air like her little sister.

"W-Wha-woah!"

"Yang, just relax! You don't have to do anything as it rights itself for you!" Ruby informed, glancing down as she heard the CQC expert struggle with her weightless balance.

"Well, I guess we're doing this now…" Blake murmured to Weiss as she turned around to her squad leader and walked backwards into the center, similar to a trust fall exercise. "…You staying?"

"Hmph…And let you three do this alone? What kind of squad leader would I be…?" Weiss traded back with the snark in Blake's tone as she watched her lift into the air just like the others. She wasn't far behind either, as she followed, stepping closer to the middle of the stage-like structure.

The two women floated side by side towards the belly of the beast, slowly becoming consumed by purplish streaks of light that got thicker as they rose higher until it ceased to stark white...

* * *

 **I can hear that plasma grenade stick so clearly. Such a dreadful sound, but humorous when its not you!**

 **They're finally at the ship! Now they just have to be the stealth force they are, and find a way to blow it up! Should be easy, right?**

 **Tell me what you think so far with a review. Peace!**


	6. Comet

Chapter 6: Comet

* * *

Weiss had all of one second to blink away the blinding light before a muffled voice called out her name and she was tackled to the ground.

"…-Ok? Lieutenant? Weiss?!"

The white haired officer blinked as she started to make out Yang's voice from the dull ringing in her ears, another side effect from the transport, apparently. Her voice wasn't all she picked up though. Familiar gunfire sounded off as she glanced over the blonde's shoulder to see the Spartan firing her Battle Rifle.

"C'mon, we gotta move, boss!" Yang announced as she saw Weiss starting to come to from her helmet shifting directions. Hastily helping the Lieutenant to her feet, the CQC expert rushed the two of them behind a small half-wall shaped like a shark's dorsal fin, just as bright plasma struck the front of it.

The momentary cover gave the squad leader time to take in her surroundings. They had ended up in a large, purple, circular room covered in alien glyphs. In the center of the chamber was the raised platform that the squad had found themselves on. It was similar to the one they captured at Mt. Glenn, but for being shorter in diameter.

Directly across from Weiss and Yang, was Ruby and Blake behind an identical half-wall on the right. And mirroring those two structures were two more of the same make, as all four surrounded the entire platform and pointed inwards to where the group appeared inside the wide open room.

"I guess we don't have to wonder if they know we're here anymore!" Blake roared over the gunfire as she sat with her back pressed against the wall, having a bit less difficulty with her senses than the Lieutenant.

'They' were the welcoming party that were awaiting the group as they came up. Elites, Jackals, and Grunts alike, all converged within the ship's gravity bay to quell the daring intruders.

They hadn't planned on the first guest to be a Spartan, though…

As Ruby came up from the grav-lift, the initial onslaught of plasma bolts and needle rounds that had managed to hit her were all absorbed by her shields. And while it was left displaced, judging by the blinking light in her HUD, it did give her enough time with her super speed to find cover and draw the Covenant's fire away as Yang and the rest arrived.

"They probably heard that explosion from all the way up here! Either that or they felt it!" Ruby pitched in as she took out another shield Jackal only to see the cannon fodder they called Grunts stumbling forward to put pressure on the four person squad. "Weiss, look for an exit! A door! A grate! Anything! It doesn't matter which way either!"

Firmly gripping her rifle, the white haired markswoman glanced around the room for any sign of an exit, like asked. To the group's left was a glowing portal that the officer recognized as a door, only for it to open up with more threats.

"Elites!" Weiss warned as she opened fire on the three Sangheili at their flank.

"Good enough! Move!" The Spartan called out as she glanced in the officer's direction. Instantly, she was no longer beside Blake, but atop one of the Sangheili with a knife in its throat.

Weiss had put her target down with 6 shots, just as Ruby rose to combat the last Elite. The altercation had given the alien time to pull out his energy sword, but the ONI operative grabbed the hand holding the blade and forced it up as she pushed him into the wall beside the door.

"Go! Go! Go!" The group rushed for the portal just past the altercation at their Spartan's call, managing to duck and weave from fire as they jumped over the two dead bodies and entered the hall on the other side of the threshold.

Ruby went for another neck slice with the knife in her free hand, but the strong alien threat met her blade with the same block as she did. Locked in a stalemate, she quickly thought of a solution as the others were waiting on her to close the door. She delivered a powerful knee to his gut. And as he croaked over in pain, it weakened his grip, allowing her to attack once more. She ripped the sword out of his grasp and stabbed him in the chest, ending his misery with a sickening hiss as it carved right through him. Putting her knife back in place and the deactivated sword on the small of her back, the Spartan sprinted for the door, smashing the panel on the chamber's side just as she cleared the gap.

* * *

The door slammed shut with an audible crunch as the group stood gathered. Collecting their wits from the surprise attack, for now, avoided.

"Ok. This way." Ruby directed, going into a swift jog as she turned left at a T-intersection.

"How do you know where you're going?" Weiss asked, immediately behind the Spartan.

"I don't. Not yet, anyways!" The smugness in the tallest woman's voice obvious as the rest followed behind.

Before long, the super soldier came to a halt in front of a glowing alien terminal imbedded into a hallway wall. Immediately, she began laying her fingers against the glyphs as she toyed with them expertly, clearly having done this before.

"Keep watch while I get what I need! It'll take a second to download a map of this place."

Per her sister's orders, Yang turned around and watched the hall they had just came down as Weiss and Blake slipped past the Spartan to guard their path ahead.

"How are you doing that?" The blonde ODST looked back at her sister for a moment to watch her flick a glyph away and grab another deftly.

"Well, I've had extensive training with Covenant programming, and plenty of practice considering how many infiltration ops I go on…-Got it! Downloading it to your maps now!"

Weiss expanded her map at the ground leader's words, and what was once blank, blinked into a fully processed layout of the ship they were no doubt currently on.

"Good! Cause we're out of time!" Blake informed as she ducked back into the hall just as a needle round stuck into the wall across from the black and white ODST. A group of Covenant soldiers charging their position from Weiss and Blake's side.

"Doesn't matter! We have to go back this way anyways!" Ruby notified as she glanced up from her TACPAD, heading towards Yang. She kept going straight once she made it to the T-hallway, ignoring the hammering on the door to her right that she had bashed closed as the Covenant were still trying to get through.

As Weiss, Yang, and Blake passed by the intersection, an energy sword sliced through and began cutting a Sangheili sized hole into the thick door that led back to the chamber. "I think we better hurry!" Yang quipped. They didn't have much longer until the bulk of the enemy forces would be on them again.

"The engine room isn't too much further!" The Spartan informed as she looked up from her TACPAD to spot a pair of Jackals ahead of her. She sped up, ignoring their hasty gunfire to then jump and kick off the hallway wall. She brought her leg down in a fierce aerial kick as he futilely brought his shield up to mitigate the damage. A sickening crack came from the avian creature as it flew into the opposite wall, head first. As soon as Ruby's feet made contact with the ground, she spun into a low leg sweep to trip up the last one. Swiftly curb stomping the downed Jackal, the red and black Spartan once again continued leading the way. To the team's amazement, it was all in one fluid motion barely any time actually missed.

* * *

After cutting down a few more search parties that got in their way, the team had arrived at a larger sealed door. One that wouldn't be opened with a simple flick against the small glowing terminal beside it.

Ruby got to it right away, trying to hack through it as the ODSTs turned around to stand guard down the long open hallway.

"I don't think we have much time, Spartan!" Weiss shouted in anxiousness right next to the redhead, as she could hear incomprehensible shouting growing louder from where the main Covenant force was last seen.

The two Sergeants had posted up on either sides of the corridor, trying to find cover behind thin struts that lined the perimeter in case they received company before the recon specialist had made it through.

"I'm trying! But since I don't know the correct sequence of glyphs for this pattern, I have to either guess or try something else!" The Spartan's reply came through as irritated, as a negative tone kept repeating from the terminal she was working on, having no luck.

"Try something else, then! We have company!" Yang informed as two Jackals with carbines posted up down the hallway, giving them the range advantage against the two close quarters ODSTs.

Weiss crouched down to make a smaller target and steady her aim as she opened fire on a few Grunts that tried approaching. She got one in the head and the other shot clipped its methane tank, sending the small creature flying through the air before it slammed into the ceiling and came crashing down.

Green streaks of light came down the hallway as the Jackals opened fire, sending forth radioactively charged rounds towards the two out in the open. Most of the shots after Ruby had landed since she was such a big target, but proved ineffective as her shields had managed to hold.

As Weiss came under fire, she bolted upright and went for a free strut, but had managed to get hit in the left arm as she slammed into the corridor wall, letting out a yelp as the kinetic force of the caseless ammo slipped past her armor and embedded itself into her skin.

Hearing the Lieutenant in trouble and time running out, the Spartan clenched her teeth as she tried a different approach. _'Well, here goes…'_ One calming breath later, the one woman army punched a hole through the wall below the glyph panel and ripped out the wiring to the door's control terminal. Carefully reconnecting the wire she chose, the door flung open to reveal the ship's giant engine room. Tension gave way to relief as a huge smile grew on her face.

"Let's go!" Ruby roared out over the team's comms as she turned around to grab Weiss by the waist and pick her up to shield her from more enemy fire. Once inside, she set the officer down against the wall beside the door and turned around to provide covering fire for the others.

"Move, you two!"

At the leader's call, the remaining two ODST turned back to see Ruby at the door with her sniper rifle raised. She pulled the trigger twice in succession and the two Jackals suppressing the team lost their heads as Yang and Blake took off towards the door. They dove together into a tumble just as the Spartan punched another hole in the wall to yank out the single wire controlling the door, sealing it.

Ruby shot the glyph display for good measure with her Battle Rifle before looking over at the white haired officer getting to her feet with one hand over her fresh wound. She was the first to speak as she approached Weiss and grabbed her arm. "Did it go all the way through?"

"I think we have more pressing matters than my arm, right now Spartan!" Weiss stubbornly shook her way out of the grasp, refusing the urge to double over at the searing pain that caused.

Not even bothering to glance at the door that was being beaten on currently, Ruby took hold of her arm again.

"I'm fine!" Weiss tried, absolutely refusing to be the one to cause the team trouble in such a critical part of the plan.

"You're not fine! If that round didn't exit then we need to get it out of you as fast as possible!" Without giving the Lieutenant any room to argue, the Spartan took a firmer grip with the ODSTs arm and checked the back of her arm for the exit wound, but found nothing. With a shake of her head, Ruby pulled out her knife and kept the limb still in her grasp as Weiss tried jerking away at the sight. "I recommend you clench your teeth…"

"W-Wait! Wai-Urgh-Rrrrrrgh!" Weiss screamed out as the knife sank in, resisting all urges to strike the one digging into her arm.

"Ok! It didn't go very far! Almost…" Ruby said as she felt something irregular that matched the profile of a bullet. She moved the knife downwards, trying to get a better position until, with a flick, she popped the still-sizzling glowing green ballistic out. "…There!"

As it came to rest against the silvery metallic floor of the engine room, the illumination darkened until it ceased, burning out much faster once exposed to the air.

The officer clutched at her wounded arm and half bent over as she groaned in pain. "Mmnh! You bitch! That hurt like hell!"

"You're welcome." Ruby said with a chuckle, finding it more humorous than insulting.

* * *

After a quick application of bio-foam to cover the fresh wound, Ruby made her way to the back of the engine room -accompanied by Weiss- as Blake and Yang stayed at the door to watch over it.

"So you're sure this will work?" The white haired woman asked as she stared up at the two long horizontal tubes filled with cyan colored energy that seemed to be the destination of the ONI operative. The energy being the fuel source for the ship that powered both the engines and the internal systems located throughout the vessel.

"It working isn't what I'm worried about…" Ruby answered with a shake of her head as she started to fiddle with some controls in front of the tubes.

"Right…How long did you say we had…?" Weiss watched her work while resisting the urge to cradle the now sealed wound in her arm. The soothing properties of the medical application had taken affect, but it wasn't quite enough to dull the pain to nothing.

"I didn't…Making this system go critical isn't something that I can set like an alarm clock. It varies, and I don't have the time to come up with the numbers…Maybe two minutes, or ten seconds…" Ruby watched as the electrical current passing through the tube flickered as she tampered with the data controlling the power output. Weiss on the other hand, could focus on nothing but the red and black Spartan that uttered those damning words.

"Are you insane?! Ten second-…!" The officer started berating the younger girl before she cut in to explain.

"It's highly unlikely to go off that fast! See! It's just barely starting to turn from blue-green to blue! We have some time before it shifts to purple…" _'I hope…'_ Ruby thought unsurely. Unable to account for all the factors that go into the maximum power capacity of this ship's power source.

"Then what?" Weiss asked as she watched the current's glow become slightly more erratic.

"Then, hopefully we're nowhere near this ship…" Ruby uttered as she put in the last string of code that made certain that the power core would go haywire even if the Covenant found out their plan. Giving one last look at the energy within the glass tube to make sure it wasn't growing too fast, the sniper turned and motioned for the ODST to regroup with the others.

"And you still think she can make the jump? Even with her injuries…?"

There was a pause as Ruby looked off towards her sister at the question, before a soft smile grew on her face. "She's Yang. It's not even a question." The Spartan chirped matter-of-factly, reminded of a time when she and Yang fell out of a tree back when they were young. She didn't shed a single tear as her arm was broken, only worried for her little sister that she managed to catch just before they both hit the ground.

The Lieutenant rolled her eyes, but strangely couldn't find reason to doubt the ONI operative, having witnessed Yang come back from countless near death experiences only to spit in its face every time. She had found doubt in all of the Spartan's plans up until now. And the craziest of all, that they would survive the ship blowing up by making a jump that would kill most people before it exploded. That was the one she had the most confidence in? It was unexplainable, but for whatever reason, she was starting to believe in Ruby with every successful part of this suicide mission they found themselves on. Her thoughts went back to what Blake and Yang had talked about earlier in the city, and the Lieutenant sighed internally.

"Um…Sorry, if my questioning you is getting on your nerves…It's just, we only get one shot at this. I need to know you're sure." Weiss apologized. Feeling like she owed the super soldier that much at least. She felt she hadn't been the most fair throughout this op.

"Eh, it's alright. I get it. You care about the both of them just as much as I care about my sister. You're a good squad leader, Weiss. And I'm not just saying that because I read all of your team's op files!" Ruby then playfully bumped the ODSTs shoulder with the side of her fist, thankfully not hitting the injured side.

The white haired woman smiled behind her visor at the remark and good-natured tap as they approached the other two ODSTs, but dropped it as they all witnessed two energy swords come through the giant door. The light blades started at the top and slowly worked their way down in a mirroring circle big enough for an entrance.

"I don't suppose you have a better plan than shoot our way out of this dead-end?" Blake asked sarcastically, seeing no way to win such a battle as they were cornered in the back of the ship.

The group scanned for a way out, but being caught at the back end of the ship left them very few options, if any at all.

"Up there! I bet we could lose them through the air ducts!" Weiss pointed out after checking the one area the others didn't think to look. A four by three foot metal grate with vertical slats hung down at the top of the ceiling in the room.

"That's like 20 feet high! How do you expect us to reach it?!" Yang gestured to the hatch then themselves as she thought the idea was impossible.

Without a word, the Spartan sniper pulled out her sniper rifle and switched magazines before leveling it up to the air duct. Four muffled shots rang out as she aimed for the four corners, blasting the grate cover to bits and sending it tumbling down to their feet. "It's our best bet!"

"What are you-…?" Weiss started to question before she witnessed the super soldier lock her fingers together at waist height and bend her knees. Glancing quickly back to the door, the Lieutenant saw that the swords were about halfway to meeting. This helped make up her mind as she was the first to approach the Spartan, putting her foot in the joined hands and grabbing ahold of an armored shoulder for balance. "Please don't miss…"

"I won't…" Ruby gently assured her as she glanced up at the open grate. She took a calming breath, before she pressed off with her back foot and tossed Weiss high into the ceiling.

The Lieutenant felt her stomach turn slightly from the force behind the throw, not unlike how it felt to be dropped from orbit, but in reverse and not as long-lasting. The sniper's aim was on point as usual, as Weiss flew right into the vent and grabbed onto the lip of the metal duct as she came back down, nearly smashing her head against the top. But she supposed that was better than not quite reaching her destination. Using her upper body strength entirely, as there was no place for purchase with her feet, the ODST leader hoisted herself up into the tightly enclosed space, just enough room to not feel crammed on her hands and knees. She tried to shake out the numbness from her left arm after putting so much strain on it so soon after the patch job, but that just seemed to make it worse as it felt like tiny needles stabbing her nerve endings.

Blake was next as Ruby motioned for her to get set up in a similar position as Weiss. With a quick toss, the black haired stealth trooper was sent flying at her leader who reached out to grab Blake's arm with her good one when she just barely managed to make it to the lip.

"Come on!" Weiss called as she strained to pull up the fully armored ODST dangling openly with no support from her wounded limb. With a heave, the officer dragged her further up until Blake was able to help with her other arm. Weiss fell backwards as Blake came up from the hole and turned around at the entrance, soon discovering that there wasn't enough room for the both of them to peek down in the clustered metallic tube.

"You're next, sis. Just like old times, right?" Ruby got back into position once Blake was safely out of the way.

"Except, I was the one doing the spotting back then! You were usually too short to reach the first branch. Please don't drop me, Rubes!" Yang teased as she got into position, both hands on different shoulders of her sister.

"I'll try my best!" The red head traded back with a snarky tone. But just as she was leaning back on her foot to press off, the two Elites cutting their way in completed the circle and bashed through. With an exertive cry, Ruby threw Yang at the vent as hard as she could and rushed for the nearest cover with her Battle Rifle ready just as the enemy forces opened fire on both targets.

The shots streaking for Yang could never hope to land as the blonde ODST soared upwards into the vent. She slammed into the ceiling of the air duct so fast that it sent stars spinning in her head, unable to right herself before she already started her descent back down.

"Yang!?" Blake was there though, hastily reaching out for her teammate that was suddenly in front of her, and even more surprising, now falling back down before she just barely nabbed her chest piece and pulled Yang's upper body towards herself and into the air shaft.

"Ruby's still down there!" Yang panicked as she scrabbled into the duct with the others to make some room to turn around. She grimaced as her side rubbed against the hard surface she was pressed against, but powered through it with the fear of her sister having to face them all alone in the front of her mind. As she peered down, her vision zipped around the room to find Ruby before looking in the direction all the Covenant forces were focused on.

The red and black Spartan had her back against the energy source, putting it in between her and the bulk of this ship's crew. She peeked out to look for a way up to her teammates before a bolt of plasma seared the side of the vertical energy tube she was behind.

As an Elite slapped the foolish Grunt for nearly blowing them all up, Ruby started thinking of a way to get higher up so she could make the jump to her team.

There were catwalks built on top of the energy tubes and another set parallel with those over the engine controls, but the stairs to both were near the entrance to the room, which was now in full view of the mass of aliens.

Seeing as the Covenant was hastily encroaching on her position, her first and only plan so far was what she went with. Ruby steadied herself with a quick breath before putting her BR55HB on her back, knowing it will only get in her way.

The Grunt that got slapped was pushed into being the first to try and detain the Spartan. It nervously approached the corner behind the energy tubes rising from the floor, and with a quick jump, the stubby alien turned only to find the place empty.

Just above its height challenged view, a pair of fully armored legs swung up like a pendulum to carry Ruby high enough for her to grab onto the railing of the catwalks above her. She hopped over the bars and ducked down into a sprint as the rest of the aliens began shooting at her now that she was in the clear of the energy source. Their sights didn't remain trained on her long though, as she vanished into nothing from their point of view.

The Spartan with super speed had pushed past her normal limits, time slowing to a crawl around her as she charged forward down the metal walkway. She looked up at the open grate she was rapidly approaching and jumped up onto the railing to get just that last bit of height needed to make the jump in her mind. One more step on the sturdy hand railing and the ONI operative was now airborne, having leapt off with an explosive force powerful enough to dent in the catwalk's railing she left behind.

Faster than the blink of an eye, Yang was face to face with her sister she had just witnessed jump onto the catwalks right in view of the Covenant crew. She was just about to call out Ruby's name in fear she would watch her be gunned down, only to choke back the warning as the Spartan climbed up into the air shaft with the rest of the team.

"Go! Go! Before they decide to send up plasma grenades!" Ruby barked out as she started pushing the line of ODSTs ahead of her, sensing the alien's fire aimed at the opening right behind her.

* * *

The team scrambled further down the metal tube with the Spartan's guidance from the rear, having seemingly lost the threats they escaped from, for now. "Hang a right next-hah!" The silver eyed woman panted out as her heart rate was still abnormally high even for a high stress situation like this. She momentarily lost her balance and leaned against one of the walls of the linear chamber they found themselves crawling in.

The team didn't appear to notice yet the out of breath state of the Spartan as they continued scrambling to find a way off the ship.

Ruby continued after them, sweat now beading against her forehead as she attempted to control her breathing better with a hand against her chest, but the burning sensation from her center never gave her a moment of reprieve as her condition seemed to be getting worse with every shuffle. She knew she could rest once they were all safely away from this ship, though. _'C'mon! Just a little more!'_

A portal whirled open as a black and white ODST climbed out to set foot on the surface of the Covenant cruiser. It took Weiss a moment to get used to the high wind speeds so far up over the city, before she reached down with her good arm to help Blake out of the same hole.

"Just like the tests back in training, right?" Blake muttered to her Lieutenant as she got to her feet and could see just how far up they were.

"Give or take a few hundred feet!" The officer said back with a smirk. "Remember now, ladies. How do we land…?" She turned to Blake and Yang as the blonde had made it up as well.

"Feet first, Sir!" The pair of similarly colored Orbital Drop Shock Troopers roared out over the sound of the whistling wind as they all got into position to dive off.

Weiss went first, quickly followed by Blake. Yang was soon to follow, but she faltered for a moment as something occurred to her.

"Ruby?!" The older sister exclaimed over the sound of the air current as she turned around to see the Spartan just now making it up the ladder with no small effort.

The sniper's eyes widened as fear entered her mind. She expected Yang to have already evacuated, but just as she was about to call out for her sister to jump, a rumbling in the bowels of the ship could be felt. A series of explosions were heard next, and Ruby followed her instincts with a split second decision. Forcing herself up, she activated her speed one last time and tackled Yang off the ship. Just as section after section of the enemy vessel began to erupt in a blue and purple fiery explosion.

The black and red Spartan held protectively to her ODST sister as the flames consumed them in mid-air, only for them to be seen falling out of it as the explosion was forced straight ahead and they soared downwards after the other pair.

"Hold on, Yang! Hold on!" Ruby warned as she clutched onto the blonde and did her best to spin around with her back to the city they were crashing towards.


	7. Blue Fire

**Hello! Sorry if this is later than most and cutting it close to the end of the month which is my self set deadline for these chapters. We've been just as busy as always except down a man off and on for like 3 months now. Just now starting to stabilize, so hopefully this guy lasts. Anyways, we're getting close to the end now. I have two more chapters to write (Maybe an epilogue?) but these two are probably going to be the most difficult for me. I miss when I first started and everything just came to me as I wrote. Ah, the days! Rambling again...I'll let you get to reading now!**

* * *

Chapter 7: Blue Fire

Weiss could hear the ship erupting in purplish flames behind them as they fell to meet the torn skyline of Mt. Glenn. She spared no glance as she was rapidly approaching the ground, and searched for a suitable place to slow her descent without crushing her limbs or worse in the process. Just ahead was a black and grey spire that had taken a hit to its side at the top some time ago and left a gaping hole nearly 3 floors tall.

The Lieutenant seriously doubted she could make it to the roof of the structure at her current distance, and judging by all her other options of landings that were either too far or too low to make it without coming to harm, the interior seemed like the best choice. She tucked her arms at her sides and brought her legs together, angling herself straight for the opening.

She knew right away that she wasn't going to make the tallest floor from the distance she started, but the Schnee had extensive training in HALO jumping, as did all ODSTs from training. She knew she could meet her mark. What she didn't know was how she was going to stop herself once she made contact inside.

The ODST squad leader had managed to glide herself near-horizontally into the building's second floor, but that didn't mean she had slowed herself down during her free fall. All she could do was close her eyes and brace herself as her body slammed into an office desk once overlooking the city streets. It crumbled like a house of cards under the pressure and she tumbled on, flipping through the air like a rag doll past rows and rows of cubicles until finally she made it to the other side of the office floor and harshly came to a halt back first against the outer wall, narrowly missing an open window that would have sent her tumbling down once again towards the city streets below.

The white haired woman barely had time to wheeze out her pain though, as another crash sounded off from where she entered. Black and white armor tumbled just like she did, except now there were no obstacles to impede her ODSTs path.

Rapid shapes and dull colors were all that Blake could make out as she flipped and flipped, trying her best to reorient herself, but having no such luck as she was moving too fast.

Weiss could see her comrade approaching. And while Bake was headed in her direction, her initial landing had skewed her path just slightly. She watched as the dark haired ODST rolled onwards until her path became clear to the squad leader. With widened azure, Weiss reacted just as Blake tumbled past her and into the broken window, grabbing onto what she could before her subordinate was lost to gravity.

"Grgh!" Amber eyes sealed shut as Blake's body came to a halt and slapped into the side of the building from the sudden jerk. She opened them and could first make out her visor's reflection in the lower floor window, before her gaze drifted south to see the broken roadways crisscrossing hundreds of feet below her. She began to struggle at the startling sight, pushing herself up clumsily with her hands against the smooth surface of the window to no avail.

"Calm down! I've got you!" Weiss tried calming in an assertive tone before a flare of pain shot up her left arm from another wriggle of her scout's legs in her grasp. She growled in pain, but kept pulling her subordinate up all the same until Blake could get her hands up on the ledge to help out.

With one last heave, Weiss wrenched the black haired ODST from the opening and she fell on her back as Blake rolled onto hers, just outside the window. Both of the soldiers were huffing for air with their arms out to their sides and feet pointed at each other, staring at the molded ceiling tiles as a momentary peace came over the empty office space.

"That. Was not. Feet first!" Blake exhaustedly stated between heavy breaths before she let out a panting laugh shortly followed by her Lieutenant. The fatigue of the mission starting to catch up to them in such dire situations.

"Yeah, well. My landing wasn't all that graceful either…" Weiss answered with a smile before she rose up on an elbow with a wince to look at the amber eyed girl. "You good…?"

"Am now that I'm not seconds away from falling to my death…" Blake brought her head up to look at her leader as their breath was coming back to them.

The irony was not lost on Weiss at that statement, but before she could share the humor with her friend, the building shook as a large mass came down on top of the building.

"THE SHIP!" Blake shot up in terror as the looser of the ceiling tiles came down around them and windows shattered from the impact.

Weiss also held this fear for a moment, until the rumbling ceased after a single impact and the building still stood. "No. It wasn't the ship…" The leader muttered to her squad mate before another cacophony of explosions was heard far away and above. "…That was the ship!"

They sprinted for the other side of the office floor they entered to look out and see that the ship was now in giant smoldering pieces, falling to Remnant. Thankfully none of the debris besides small bits seemed to be coming their way for the moment, but that left one question unanswered.

* * *

Her DMR drawn and ready, Weiss marched past the roof entrance's threshold with Blake right behind her to see a smoking crater buried in the building's gravel topped covering. She put away her rifle for now and hopped over the small staircase's railing, rushing over to examine what happened.

As the two ODSTs did, another crash shook the city as the bulk of the ship finally made contact, not only with the ground, but with the gravity platform that rested below it as well. This was the least of the team's concerns though, as Weiss stopped at the precipice of the first building-shaking phenomenon.

"Shit! Did they make it?" Blake asked as she came up beside her leader before seeing two unmoving soldiers wedged in the blackened indention of the rooftop. The sight didn't look good, as such a fall would likely kill even some ODSTs. "Yang?!"

As if to answer her question, the prone black and white armored figure began to weakly cough against the Spartan's chest before managing to raised her head to look around.

"Fuck. I just can't catch a break with landings today…"

Weiss and Blake smiled at Yang's words as they slid down the deep hole to help out their comrade.

"I'll be alright. Rub-… Ruby!?" Yang began to console her teammate's worries and raise herself up on her hands against the ground before remembering what her sister did for her. The blonde glanced down between her arms to stare at the blacked-out visor of her little sister and waited for some sign that she was still with them. When none came immediately, the CQC expert tore off her own helmet and delivered a slap against the side of her sister's. "C'mon, Rubes! Wake up!"

"Her chest isn't moving…" Blake whispered on one knee beside the blonde. The fright in her voice not lost on either of the other two.

Yang looked down lower to confirm this and clenched her eyes closed as the once intimidating figure remained completely still. Her hands tightened to menacing fists as grief began to cloud her mind. _'Not again…'_ Not wanting to lose her sister a second time, the distraught soldier did the only thing that came to mind when faced with an unwinnable situation. "No!" Yang brought the bottom of her protected and clenched hand down on her sister's chest plate in a fit of anger and fear, unwilling to accept that she had lost Ruby so soon after reuniting.

The blow struck hard and landed right below Ruby's sternum. The jolt surged through the Spartan's body and bounced her back off the ground an inch or so. It was enough though, as the pitch black chest plate began to rise with full breaths to make up for the lack of oxygen.

"Ruby!" Yang called again, as she noticed the new sign of life. Tears started to build at the sides of her eyes as her sister was coming back to her. But she still received no response but for the visor listing to the side ever so slightly from the fierce strike.

"That's one way to preform CPR…She's alive Yang, but still unconscious. Give her a moment." Weiss instructed as she placed a concerned hand on her subordinate's plated shoulder.

Yang brushed off the comment and moved from the grasp as she leaned down to lay her head against Ruby's armored chest, listening to the weak, but steadily coming beats. Praying that they never stopped.

Sighing from the reaction, the Lieutenant decided it best to leave the sisters and take a look around at the city. She made her way out of the crater and approached the precipice of the towering structure to take in the further reduced wasteland of a city. Smoke was rising all around from the debris that didn't burn up immediately. It was a miracle that so many of the buildings where still standing after such a catastrophe, but something else seemed to stand out from all this as Weiss continued to look around the ruins. It didn't come to her until Blake approached her side with congratulations.

"Another successful Op, Lieutenant."

Weiss squinted as she pondered her Sergeant's words. They had completed the Spartan's mission, not their own. She glanced to the top middle of her HUD for their mission objective as realization struck her like Yang's fist against Ruby's chest. "The shield is down!"

"Communications should be back up. I'm sure the Commander would appreciate a check-in." Blake smirked as Weiss figured out that the shimmering shield no longer encompassed the city and outlying forests.

"Command!?" Weiss's hand went to the side of her helmet immediately as she began the call, hoping to get in touch with her father again.

"Lieutenant Schnee!? You've missed several check-ins! Where in the hell have you been, girl!?" Her father's pompous voice broke through crystal clear, as he yelled. Clearly not happy with her supposed insubordination.

* * *

"Rub-… ….Ruby!"

Silver eyes sprang open at the voice to see a familiar face smiling, teasingly.

"I don't think the Captain would appreciate you sleeping in when everyone else is already up." A 7-foot tall girl with a face of a 14 year old and short blonde hair warned playfully as she began putting on a grey jumpsuit next to her own simple twin sized bed.

The redhead looked around from her own bed to see other young teens were getting up and dressed as well, but judging by the amount of beds in the rectangular room, most had been emptied already. Some for days…

"Right. Sorry, Sarah…" A 14 year old Ruby muttered quietly, even though a smile crept across her face as the other girl giggled.

"Don't apologize to me. Lee's the one you need to worry about if Captain Connelly doesn't get to you first!" The girl named Sarah joked while she finished putting on her suit as Ruby finally got up, but the blonde's smile faded when she noticed the redhead's own disappear. "Nightmares again…?"

"Mmh…" Ruby nodded as she pulled out her own suit and began to slip it on.

"Still…? Well, I guess I'm not surprised. I can still feel some of those needles months after, too…" A shiver went up the cheery blonde's spine as she rubbed her arm, remembering the augmentation process that all Spartan's must go through.

"It wasn't that, this time…" The red head shook her head as she zipped up her jumpsuit and walked up beside her teammate to continue towards the door.

"Your family again…?" Sarah ventured a guess softly, not wanting to blurt it out while others were around.

She didn't have to answer for the young blonde Spartan to know she hit the nail on the head. Sarah spoke up again with an understanding tone along the way to the mess hall to link up with the rest of their team. Other unnaturally tall teens going to and fro within the ONI base's facilities. "We all miss a part of our old lives, but that's behind us now, Ruby. You know there's no going back. We belong to ONI and the UNSC. And we should be damn proud to be where we are now."

The belief in her words were strong, but all Ruby could think about was how wrong that sounded. She didn't know why she thought so. She believed in those words too, or at least she used to, but something in the back of her mind grated on her. Before she could give too much thought on the matter however, they reached their destination.

"Over here!" Another girl with long straight black hair tied into a pony tail called out to the two female Spartans with an energetic wave before a slap to the shoulder by the boy next to her halted the movement.

The two friends approached the table with the other pair as the boy spoke up in a mustered stern voice. "'Bout time! Breakfast is almost over!"

"Well, we had to make sure our makeup was put on right before we started the day!" Sarah mocked with a smile as she and Ruby sat down to two trays of food across from the other pair of young Spartans.

"You don't wear any makeup…" The boy dismissed with his eyes squinted in annoyance. Knowing that the orphaned teens handpicked to become super soldiers had no use for such things.

"How kind of you to notice, Lee! And here I thought you never payed attention to us girls." The grin on the blonde's lips widened even further.

"Sh-shut up!" The bald headed boy named Lee looked away at the tease and unintentionally met the eyes of the girl beside him. The interaction sent his eyes downwards at his food in a flurry as his cheeks began to heat up.

The scene played out in front of Sarah forced a joyful laugh that nearly shook her from her seat as she pointed accusingly towards the other pair.

"S-Sarah! That's not funny! You're making a scene!" The black haired girl hissed quietly as she swatted at the other girl's hand to make her stop, her own face obtaining a red tent.

Ruby stared on at the group of friends as a happy smile wound up on her face. She missed this. She missed being a part of something. For some reason, it seemed so long ago now, though. Her face scrunched up slightly at the strange thought, but before she could even begin, her name was called.

"Ruby! Tell her to stop making fun of Lee!"

"Sarah, stop…" Ruby relented with a sigh as she stared over at her best friend. "…You know how defensive Becca is of Lee…"

"I'm just trying to help! They're so clueless!" Sarah defended as she gestured with a thumb pointed to the boy and girl across the table while a hand hid her mouth conspiratorially. Her voice was that of a stage whisper, meant to be heard.

" **Am no** -…!" Becca and Lee both rose from their seat and began to refute in unison of the allegation until they heard the communication system beep to life, interrupting them and silencing the entire mess hall of small chatter.

"… **Spartans B282 Lee, B267 Becca, B279 Sarah, and B280 Ruby. Report to lab testing operation room 2…That is all…"**

Only hushed whispers picked back up after the message within the giant room. Quick glances where exchanged from other groups, all focused on four…

"Guess It's our team's turn…Still no word from Jake or his team? They were the first to be called…" Lee pondered aloud as they got up and made their way to the hall after disposing of their plates. The entire team trying to ignore the attention from their fellow Spartans-in-training.

"Maybe they're on a mission…?" Sarah put out with a shoulder shrug before grabbing Ruby in a loose headlock, pulling her closer with a carefree smile. "…I hope we finally get to see what we're truly capable of. Maybe we'll get into a few skirmishes with the Covenant!"

"If it was a mission they were sending everyone on, why would they direct us to the labs?" Becca questioned as the red head eventually gave up on breaking free and relented to her position beside the second tallest of the group below Lee.

"To do some final check-ups to make sure we're good to go? I don't know. I'm not in charge…" The blonde tried with an easy shrug of her shoulders, before looking down at Ruby to see her thinking hard about something. "What's up, short stuff?" While the name calling betrayed it somewhat, Sarah's voice was nothing but serious as she finally let the silver eyed girl go, yet remained close. She knew from the years spent together that Ruby didn't do well with attention, hence the jovial roughhousing to get her mind off the stares.

"Just…I-It's nothing. I'm sure I'm just imagining it…" Ruby couldn't help but feel like she had been through this all before. The only problem was that her head felt fuzzy when she tried to remember further.

Before she even knew it though, the team was inside the lab facilities and facing two people that they had all taken the time to get to know during their stay within the secret base. The small operation room within the lab was a bleach white, but shadowed as the space only had a few sources of light from holographic displays along the walls showing some procedure that went over each and every one of their heads. Four sterilized chairs with the back adjusted obtusely rested in the middle of the room facing away from each other in a diamond shape.

"I'm sure you are all wondering why you have been called here. Well let me explain." The white haired man with a stark white lab coat said, adusting his glasses before continuing. "Things…Have not been going well with the Human Covenant War. The Spartan-II, and the Spartan-III projects have done us a tremendous favor in buying time. But time can only be bought for so long until we have lost. And we are certainly running out. That is why ONI has given me permission to test my research with this program that you brave souls are all a part of. Project Dust began here when I discovered what these small crystals were truly capable of." The head ONI researcher explained as he walked over to an instrument table and held up a small, white, glass-like shard with a pair of tweezers.

"Imagine it. Entire ships powered by a handful of these small mineral formations." Said the other figure in a military uniform with and officer's cap displaying a captain's rank.

"Indeed, Captain Connelly." The ONI Scientist agreed before looking at each young Spartan in the eyes individually, lingering on Ruby's silver for but a moment longer. "You four have proven yourselves capable of surpassing humanity's boundaries. Well, I would like you to do it again. With the help of this…" The bespectacled man held up the white crystal and nodded to the Captain beside him to start.

"Into the chairs, Lee squad. You've done it once, you can do it again…" The dark haired officer ordered as he helped get them situated.

The team was a bit reluctant, having already gone through a similar painful process once before, but they were soldiers. And soldiers followed orders. Ruby had such a terrible feeling however, but her body didn't seem to want to respond to her. This was made doubly so, as they were all strapped down by their wrists and ankles then given a preliminary shot that acted fast, dulling their abilities to move and feel.

The red haired Spartan's heart rate slowed drastically, but she could hear every thump as if her heart had moved into her ear canal. She tried looking over to Sarah or Lee, the closest to her in the diamond their chair's had formed, but she could hardly even shake her head as the numbness kicked in. Her eyes shifted back forward as the white haired man approached with a holo-pad in hand. He tapped away and four robotic arms whirred to life above them, preparing the injection.

"This may be it. The beginning of the end for the Human Covenant War. Either way, I do think each of you for your courage and self-sacrifice." As the last word left the Scientist's lips, he closed his eyes and pressed another button, sending the arms to deliver the dust injections.

Ruby struggled against the straps holding her down as the giant needle slowly descended, but at most she could make a fist with how heavily she was drugged. She knew this was wrong. That this had to be stopped. That this would be the last time she would see her friends again, but her body just wouldn't move for her. She tried to roll away from the needle right above her left arm, yet all she could manage was to look away and catch a glimpse of Sarah being injected as she could just barely feel her own needle pierce her skin.

It didn't hurt at all, initially. The numbness didn't allow for her to feel such a minor pain, but then a cold sensation gathered in her arm, not dissimilar to a fan blowing against her bare skin. The feeling began to travel though, spreading throughout her body, getting faster. More violent. Like a tornado…

"Gha-Haaah!"

Ruby forced her head to her left, looking for Lee to see his right hand shaking into a clenched fist as he cried out again. Becca soon joined him with a forceful whimper, the drugs even making it difficult to scream in pain.

The agony was starting to reach a fever pitch within the silver eyed girl's veins, but she still managed to hold back her cries. That was when she heard Sarah finally break with a weak grunt through gritted teeth that soon became a roar of suffering. Ruby tried to call to her, for any of them, but her mouth didn't accept the commands. It was as if she was no longer in control of her own body. Just made to watch it all unfurl.

Ruby's eyes began to pool as tears slipped from the edges and they remained locked on Sarah's twitching hand. She repeated her friend's name over and over in her head, but still nothing came out.

"…rah…!...Sarah!"

* * *

The super powered Spartan shot up in a cold sweat when she woke. She nearly head-butted Yang who was leaning over her, but the blonde had managed to rear back once she heard her sister's warning in the form of an unfamiliar name screamed.

Wide silver eyes danced around the crater as she took in where she was and what had recently happened. She wasn't in that place any longer. Those screams had died off years ago. But time had done little to erase their memory. Her eyes settled on the blonde lilac-eyed girl above as she noticed her own tears streaking down her cheeks. Ruby's hands fidgeted to wipe them away, but she quickly remembered her helmet was still on.

"You frikin' scared me!" Yang roared as she tackled the Spartan in a hug. Or, at least she tried, as the redhead managed to stay upright without even trying.

"Yang…You're ok?" Ruby slowly asked as she returned the gesture, blinking the mostly dried tears away to right herself.

"In better shape than you, apparently! Your heart stopped after you landed!" The purple eyed ODST went to remove the Spartan's helmet to help her breathe, but the big, armor-plated gloved hands of her sister seized hers by the wrists against both sides.

"I-….I'm fine…" Grey orbs glanced off to the side as lilac proved too much to bare at the moment. Ruby slowly lowered the hands back down, but held onto them.

"Of course…Cause a little cardiac arrest won't stop a one woman army, right?" Yang rolled her eyes and smiled at the poor joke meant to distract herself from the second near-death experience she had caught her sister in. It lasted little more than a second before lowering to a more worried face as she pressed on with a question she didn't truly want an answer to. "What they did to you…Is it-…?" Her words were cold with dread as she clenched tightly to Ruby's hands. She wasn't able to finish her heart wrenching question in time however, as her Lieutenant came back with news.

"Spartan! Command wants a word!"

The group of siblings gazed up at the other pair of ODSTs returning and the redhead gave a nod in understanding. Seeing the sleek design of the recon helmet Ruby bore confirm the message with a vertical tilt, Weiss hopped down to join Yang with Blake right behind her as the Spartan gave a nudge to the older sister to release her and rose up slowly.

With a silent grimace, Ruby made it to her feet and left the crater to have a word with the one thought in charge.

"Yang. Are you doing better? Can you stand?" Blake asked now at her side again. The blonde's response was to bend her knees and push up from a squat position while she used her right hand to hold her wounds in place.

Taking that as a yes, Blake started to turn back to her squad leader, but heard a ghosting whimper as the blonde removed her hand to see a spot of crimson mesh with the black of the glove she wore.

Looking up at the ravenette, Yang knew she saw it. With a sad smile, she shook her head. "Don't tell Ruby. I don't want her worrying any more than she already is. She'll probably just blame herself…"

"Yang…" Blake glance back down at the soaking bandages with concern, before her glint rose once more to lilac. "Yang. We have to at least take a look at it…"

Again, the golden mane shook slowly. "Nuh-uh. She'll see…I can make it until we get back to some kind of base. She doesn't need to know. Please, Blake…"

Their gazes locked intensely, even with Blake's hiding behind a wall of tented black. And neither seemed to want to back down. Pleading purple clashing with unaccepting amber. It was azure that broke the stalemate, however.

"Yang. If it keeps bleeding like that, then we're stopping to take a look. Clear?" Their Lieutenant gestured to the blonde's wound at her side as her demanding gaze never left her tired eyes.

With a half chuckle, Yang met her leader's eyes behind the mask and nodded. "Yes, momma Schnee…"

"Enough. You're such a pest…" Weiss complained with a hand on her hip as she looked away, thankful that her visor hid the smile that she couldn't seem to wipe off.

* * *

"Command. This is Sierra: Bravo Two Eight Zero. I was told to check in?" Ruby dryly stated over the comms, and immediately she was given a reply.

"What were you thinking, charging into enemy territory blind like that?! With **my** men, even! When all of you are thoroughly de-briefed on my ship. You'll be lucky if I don't have you court martialed for disobeying specific orders!" Commander Jacques Schnee belted off as he stood on the bridge of the UNSC _Morality_.

Ruby's answer came easily to her, not feeling threatened in the slightest. "I followed **my** command's orders to the letter, **sir**. You hold absolutely no sway over my mission directives and you certainly aren't capable of punishing me for completing them. So before you try threatening me again, why not listen to what I have to say…? I only answered this summons to tell you something."

"And? What might that be?" His words escaped through clenched teeth audibly, even over the subtle static of the comms.

Ruby couldn't resist the urge to smirk. She couldn't explain it, but there was so much joy she found from displeasing this person she had never previously met nor spoken with before. "…I still have use for Ghost Squad, so I'll be taking them with me for a little while longer… **Commander** …"

There was silence for nearly twenty seconds before the white haired man growled out the beginning of his response. "If you think you'll get aw-…"

"-…Zealots…" Ruby sent one word over the line to stop the conversation in its tracks.

"…I beg your pardon?" The commander was befuddled, his white whiskers twitching from the previous word.

"We're not done here, Commander Schnee. The Covenant want more from this world than to simply glass it. Surely you can see that since they sent down troops to secure a specific area…"

"What do they want that could be so important?"

"…My home…" The words were venomous as they passed her lips in a quiet whisper. She pressed on, however. "I need the help of Ghost Squad to secure a facility. Once that's done, they're all yours again. I promise."

"This doesn-…" Jacques began to shake his head in futility of understanding the Spartan before a crew member beside him barked out an alert as sirens began to blare within the bridge.

"Commander, incoming signals! Unknown in origin!"

The terminals mounted from the ceiling in front of the Commander displayed two beacons coming in from slipspace. The size was undeterminable from the present screens. But that was rectified as the two Covenant warships blinked into orbit around Remnant.

"Sir! It looks like a Battlecruiser accompanied by a DAV-class light corvette!" Another called out over the bridge as she stayed busy at her station.

"Commander Schnee…? What's-…?!" Ruby slowly asked, before an explosion was heard over the line. "…Commander!"

"Damn bastards took a shot at us…Status report!" Commander Schnee ordered of his staff, after unintentionally answering her question.

"Hull integrity at 74%, commander! It's the Battlecruiser!"

"And the other one?!" The seasoned officer demanded, wanting to know where his ship stood in this endeavor.

"It's…The Corvette's just moving in closer to the planet, sir! It doesn't seem to be worried about our presence…" The first crew member answered worriedly, as even the enemy knew how outmatched their Frigate was for a Battlecruiser of that size.

"Running interference, are you?" Jacques muttered aloud to himself, before belting out his plan. "…Get the MAC online now! And arm the Archer missile pods!"

"Target, sir?" The weapon's specialist aboard the bridge asked, following orders immediately as he tapped at his screen displaying the Magnetic Accelerator Cannon already at 20% charge in case of emergencies. _'Leave it to the commander to always expect a fight.'_

"Spartan. I'm going to give everything I have to ensure that ship doesn't make it past. But don't think I'm doing this to save your disrespectful hide!" The white haired officer glared past the battlecruiser closing in to make out the front profile of the Corvette behind it.

"Commander…?" Again Ruby's voice changed with concern.

"A Schnee always carries out their duty…Just don't ask too much of her…"

"Commander…? Commander Schnee…!" The silver eyed Spartan called out to no response. The Schnee having cut communication shortly after his request.

* * *

His mind now fully focused on the fight ahead, Commander Schnee took his place at the main computer. "Full speed towards that rear ship! If they want on that planet so bad, then it's our duty to fight tooth and nail to stop them!"

No one aboard the bridge believed in their chances of survival in the situation they found themselves in. Most felt they had a chance against the Light Corvette, but a capital ship? Still, this didn't affect their Commander's demeanor in the slightest. His back was straight, his face held the same scowl he always wore, and his blue orbs carried the same determination that sought them through every encounter with the Covenant so far. And if he had something planned as well…? One by one the crew fell back in line with their leader, thinking it better to try than to lie down and take it.

Jacques tapped the console's display of the smaller vessel moving closer to the planet, and soon the engines came to full power to direct the UNSC _Morality_ after the Corvette. As if to remind him of the bigger threat however, there was another series of rumblings as the bridge and everyone in it shook from heavy impacts.

"Sir, we can't take much more abuse from that Battlecruiser! Hull at 45%!" Panic rose in the crew member's voice as a separate explosion came from the side of the ship that was just pelted, likely permanent damage.

The Schnee's mustache bristled at the report before another gave much better news.

"MAC cannon charged at 56% and climbing, sir!"

"Fire all Archer missiles ahead at the Battlecruiser when I give the signal!" The Commander raised his right hand in the air as he leaned on the display and squinted at the two ships ahead of him.

The crew waited, still as statues, expecting the next array of Pulse Lasers to come beaming down from the enemy Battlecruiser at any second. As several purple lights began to spark and grow from the bottom of the larger ship, the Commander's eyes widened and his hand dropped the very next instant as his window had opened. He roared out to let loose and the missile pods were all launched for the lead ship. Hundreds of missiles hurdling towards the seemingly motionless purple vessel.

The human volley collided with Covenant bolts of plasma as numerous Plasma Turrets intercepted the explosives in mid-air, creating a cloud of orange and purple sizeable enough to nearly cover the Battlecruiser in its entirety from the Commander's perspective. He let himself grin as the Covenant did exactly as he thought.

"Punch it! This should give us cover past that behemoth! And get ready to fire the MAC!"

The UNSC _Morality_ soared closer to the Covenant Corvette as they passed underneath the larger threat. It seemed both ships were surprised by the actions of the small Frigate, as neither had yet attacked before they were soon catching up to their target.

"MAC at 68%...69%!"

"Hold, Captain! We're going to get as close as possible before giving these beasts everything we have!"

His order was punctuated by another thunderous explosion. From the back of the ship this time. The Battlecruiser having finally caught up to their plan.

"They crippled our engines, sir!"

"Can we still move?!" Commander Schnee asked as he recovered from the shaking of the hull.

"I…I think so with more power. We're down to one reactor, but I think I can-…!"

"Just do it!" The commander barked in impatience.

"But the MAC is still charging, sir!" The weapons specialist reminded.

"Then hold the charge and transfer all available power to the ship's engines! We're taking them with us!" Jacques gave the order as he glanced to the MAC's charge progress as it greyed out at 71%.

The crew on the bridge felt the ship begin to sputter and lurch forwards as the thrusters began to do their job once again. The UNSC _Morality_ coasting perpendicular to the Light Corvette ahead that seemed more occupied with the planet than the small, crumbling human vessel.

They were nearly upon the Covenant Corvette when another crash sent the ship rocking as the Battlecruiser unleashed another colorful array against them. Several more detonations flared from the back of the heavily damaged ship and all four rear facing exhausts dimmed for good. The Frigate slowed in its course, but the Schnee persisted with gritted, anxious teeth.

"Almost…" Jacques gripped the edge of the console he was leaning over, analyzing the perfect time to unleash the final strike of the UNSC _Morality_. He waited until nothing but the sleek design of the Corvette was all he could see through the forward facing observation shield. "Now! Fire!"

"MAC round away!"

A cacophonous crash traveled throughout the entire ship as the 600 ton ferric-tungsten slug was set loose out of the front of the Frigate and nearly pointblank into the Covenant energy shielding. The cyan colored barrier pulsed to life, but for a moment, until the beat up Frigate came right after the devastating hit to make contact.

* * *

"Ruby?! What's wrong?" Yang came stumbling up the slope of the crater that the sister's had made at the sound of the Spartan's troubled voice. Her left hand on her wounds to hide the freshly re-opened punctures.

The black and red Spartan helmet turned to the blonde's voice to see Weiss and Blake following just behind. Silver was cast to hidden blue as a weight settled in Ruby's stomach. A moment passed before the young Spartan shook her head slowly, unwilling to tell the Lieutenant about her Commander outright. "Weiss, I'm sorry…Your father has enga-…"

A rumbling was heard above once again, but the team knew that the ship they boarded and destroyed was already reduced to a pile of rubble. Still, what sounded like distant thunder clouds caught the group's attention, besides two…

"What about my father…?" Weiss asked carefully as the two had yet to look away from each other.

"What the hell's happening up there, Ruby?" Yang asked as she couldn't make anything out from the still daylight sky above.

Another, louder bang set off outside the boundary of the planet, but this one sounded familiar. A crash that they all had heard a time or two within their time as UNSC soldiers. A MAC firing was unmistakable, even from so far away. But as a shape grew closer to the planet's atmosphere, Yang finally began to see the cause. A cloud of fire and ashen metal plumed above Remnant as, what appeared to be a ship, approached. It wasn't until she put the thought together that what she saw was actually a ship and the remnants of another…

"Oh, God…" Blake uttered as she slackened the grip of her SMG that she hadn't even realized she went for in the moment.

Realization had struck the team that the ship they had departed earlier that morning was now nothing but molten cinders and harrowing screams. Blake looked away from the trigger of recurring childhood memories before she was pulled out of that abyss by a strong right hand. Yang stayed by her best friend's side, before giving a worried look back at her Lieutenant. Who, was no doubt, having an even rougher time with the calamity.

Lilac caught sight of a rigid soldier gazing up at the horror above them. But what Yang couldn't imagine, was the burning resentment glaring up at the Covenant vessel still in one piece…


	8. Entering and Breaking

**H** **appy American Thanksgiving! A few days late, but oh well. You can enjoy this while gorging yourselves on leftovers! xD This one got away from me a bit. There really wasn't a good place to stop for a while, so you got a hefty chapter. Have fun!**

* * *

Chapter 8: Entering and Breaking

The heavily damaged ship fell from the sky as it broke apart, but it stayed on course. Right for the squad's tower.

"We need to find cover, now!" The leading Spartan ordered as Blake and Yang turned to agree. When Ruby received no response from Weiss though, she grabbed her by the shoulder to tug her back. "Weiss, come on! We need to find shelter!"

Again the Mjolnir wearing soldier was given nothing from the Lieutenant who kept her burning blue eyes locked to the deteriorating vessel above. It wasn't until she was pulled back a few feet that Weiss stumbled to turn around and broke away from the epicenter of her ire, falling in line with her squad mates who raced down the stairwell of the building as her mind was elsewhere.

"Down here! Come on!" Ruby waved over as they reached street level, the approaching noise of explosions from the Corvette swiftly making headway above the city of Mt. Glenn putting a sense of urgency in her voice. She directed them to more stairs that led below the streets. An old subway entrance judging by the dented-in sign hanging off kilter from the wall beside it.

The Spartan turned around after the first step down to usher the team in before her. Blake had been right behind her, followed by Weiss who had quickly caught up to leave Yang lagging behind slightly, thanks to her wounds.

Just as Ruby was about to call out for her sister, a grating noise broke her concentration to look above. What remained of the torn alien ship's bow had crashed into one of the few outlasting skyscrapers in the city, adjusting the broken ship's course meagerly as concrete and glass rained down towards the pavement.

Grabbing her arm as Yang reached her, Ruby sped her sister down the steps in front of her to join her squad mates. Being the last one still topside, the young Spartan gave another glance just in time to watch the Corvette soar overhead towards the forest that they had trekked through to reach the city. She didn't manage to catch where it finished its landing though, as she was forced inside the underground passage by the collapsing tower that crumbled to pieces around their block.

* * *

Dust and ash kicked up as the light flitted away from the now-buried exit from the subway tunnel. Without a moment to spare, the silver eyed Spartan jogged to the center of the group and flicked on her helmet's outer lighting to break through the endless dark and give them a chance to get their bearings.

Crushed cans and other waste littered the ground and a few signs of rodent life made itself known with squeaks of surprise as the rubble finally stopped falling to give way to a quiet, cold ambience.

"What…Just happened?" The question came from the amber eyed ODST leaning with one hand against the cold brick wall to catch her breath. So lost in the previous events, Blake was slow in activating her night vision. With a single tap, the soldier's visor hummed as the view around her became crisp and glinted with a subtle green hue.

"The Covenant sent reinforcements…" Ruby walked past Blake and the others as she took the lead past the turnstiles before continuing. "…We're on our own now, girls…"

The words would have sent feelings of despair through some of them if not for the unflinching resolve displayed in the tone the dark Spartan spoke with. Still, their own was not without limits.

"Y-You don't mean that literally, right sis?" Yang questioned as the sinking feeling in her stomach only grew after her sister's words. The abrasive burning in her side after that sprint didn't accompany that feeling well either.

"Yang. That was command we just witnessed be reduced to ashes… The only UNSC ship within Remnant's orbit that isn't docked and probably awaiting some kind of repairs. We're on an outer colony! Helps not likely to show up for days at the least!" The panic began to rise in Blake's voice before she was halted by a call and motioning gesture from Ruby who had stopped ahead to crouch down over something.

"Ruby, what is it? And please don't say it's more bad news!" Yang was the first to stomp over, followed by a hesitant Blake and an even more lost Weiss who trailed behind. All just glad for something else to focus on.

"This…" The red and black Spartan picked up an old layout of the subway tunnels, still legible thanks to the glass frame that had nothing but a few cracks. She showed it off to the group before looking at it herself again.

"Planning to catch a ride to the mall, sis? I think we're busy here…" Yang jested in a quiet voice, pushing back the nervousness for their troubling situation while still trying to hide the pain. How was it that they just completed a seemingly impossible mission with little injury, but still felt like they had no hope to prevail in the aftermath?

"We have a map out of here, great. But where's our destination?" The group looked to Blake at her sarcastic remark followed up by a serious question. Where did they intend to go and for what purpose? Maybe to hide and gets some rest? To find a way off Remnant? Or just the best place for a final stand…

As they looked between themselves for the answer, a black, armored finger fell on an unassuming square outlined by railways on the map and the ODST team traced it back to the digit's source with a puzzled look.

"There's… Nothing there, sis…" Yang said slowly, unsure of what Ruby was trying to show them.

"There is, trust me. And I need you three to come with me…It does involve ONI…" Ruby assured once she stood up, before taking a glance at Weiss as she revealed the unsettling news. The young officer then met her obscured glance, beginning to piece it together in her mind. A blank space on a map that incorporated the secretive group known for having hidden facilities.

As Weiss failed to respond to her though, Ruby further explained what the others had already started to assume. "There's a base there that needs protecting. The _Morality_ may be lost, but **my** command is still here on Remnant. You may not have any reason to trust ONI, but going here is the best chance any of you are going to get at leaving this planet alive…" She then gazed at the white and black ODST officer pleadingly. "…Unless you have a better suggestion? That agreement still stands…" Trying to reach out to the white haired Lieutenant, Ruby received nothing but a cold shake of the head. Her eyes lowered in despondency for the older soldier's loss weighing heavily on her shoulders. There was nothing to be done about the death of their Commander now, though. All she could do was make sure that they survived to continue fighting for humanity's sake. _'A little bit of time is all she needs…Hopefully…'_

Sensing the dreadful tension between the two, the quietest one decided to put a stop to the melancholic atmosphere. "Well, it doesn't seem we have any other options…Lead the way, Ruby. I'm assuming you've been here before, right?" Blake had a hunch based off of Ruby's assuredness that there was in fact a base located in the subway tunnels that she was familiar with. She was proven correct, as the young Spartan seemed to cheer up immediately after the topic change.

"Um, you could say that…" A little chuckle escaped with her awkward answering, but Ruby recovered and gave a head tilt to follow her off the platform and down onto the abandoned subway tracks.

"So, we're really abandoning Remnant then?" Yang's voice was sad and unbelieving as she didn't move from the edge of the platform. "Is there really nothing we can do?" She looked to her sister, who had stopped on the tracks to turn around at Yang's voice.

Even though it hurt, Ruby had to tell the blonde the way it was. "I wish I could tell you that I have some plan up my sleeve again, Yang, but I'm at a loss too. I don't have all the answers…But I do know of someone who might…" With that, Ruby turned back around to continue leading them right to ONI with her battle rifle at the ready.

* * *

"We should be getting close..." The Spartan informed as she led the way further in the subway tunnels. They were using the tracks as a more direct route since all forms of transportation within Mt. Glenn had ceased long ago. All non-military forms technically.

"I haven't seen any guards posted around, are you sure there's a base here, Ruby?" Yang asked as they had yet to find any signs of life besides the occasional frightened rat.

"Not much of a secret base if you have a bunch of armed guards standing around, sis…" Ruby returned dumbly and received an invisible gesture from her sister involving a stuck out tongue.

Her twin armored ODST used that moment to then catch up with Yang and give a hidden glance without attracting the Spartan's attention ahead.

"What?" Yang finally whispered, a little annoyed by the indecipherable stare that didn't seem to go away.

"If you want to pretend like you're not in pain in front of her, you might want to stop constantly cradling your side…It couldn't be more obvious." Blake equally whispered, but in her trademark monotone and playful smile.

Instantly, the blonde removed her hand from her side. Almost unaware that she had been doing it since they made it underground. She was thankful that Blake had thought better than her and decided to use a separate channel in their comms that only they could hear to give them some privacy. "Errm, right…You seem to be taking this whole thing well…" Yang gave a subtle glance at the palm she had been using to cover her wound to find barely a trace of new blood. With that off of her list of current worries, Yang glanced back to see how her friend was doing. "…Putting our trust in ONI…What do you think about it, Blake?"

There was a moment of pause as the four of them continued forward unabated, before Blake answered her. "…I'm just glad we have a chance. When we saw the _Morality_ -…" She paused her recent recollections as she caught Weiss in her vision ahead of them. Blake knew the Lieutenant couldn't hear them, but she didn't feel right talking about it so soon. Even for Weiss, her mood appeared far too cold and distant. "…I knew we lost this fight…" Amber then focused on the back of the imposing black and red Mjolnir suit ahead and her lips began to give way to a somber smile. "But somehow that didn't faze her in the slightest. It was like nothing had changed. I don't know if that's a good thing, or bad. And quite morbid, actually."

"You don't need to worry about her! I trust Rubles one thousand percent! This is about ONI. The shadiest of shady military organizations! Surely they aren't going to just give us a ticket out of here for a little guard duty…" Yang reiterated as they passed the fourth platform they had come across.

"Have you forgotten, Yang? She **is** ONI. I trust her too, but what about the people pulling her strings? I trust them far less than the amount of trust I hold in Ruby…"

"I'm not going to let anything happen to her, Blake. I don't care how many ONI jackasses I have to go through to make sure she's Ok." Yang's grip on Ember tightened and tightened. Just before the crushing point had been reached for the grip though, she regained control on her feelings as a humorous huff came through from Blake.

"Now I don't know who I'm afraid of making this situation turn sour first. You or ONI?"

Yang returned the singular laugh with one of her own, but the smile soon faded as her glance landed on her squad leader trailing behind her sister. "And what about her…?"

Her attention pulled from the blonde to Weiss, Blake noticed their Lieutenant's poor grip on her DMR as she walked off-kilter. She released a sad breath at the sight, knowing exactly what Weiss was going through. "There's never a good time to learn someone close to you has died. Especially now in the middle of a fight for the world we consider home. Let's give her some time and see if she can pull herself together. If not, then maybe some tough love."

Yang grew a sinister smile at the sound of that. "You mean the ODST way?"

Blake hid a smile of her own. "You want to take on the Lieutenant, be my guest. I never grow tired of watching her kick your ass."

"But…W-We could take her together! …Blake?" Panic set in Yang's voice, remembering all the mandatory sparing matches she had against her squad leader. Even as the CQC specialist, Yang had never once beat her Lieutenant in a fair hand-to-hand fight. Whether it was by regulation standards or not, Weiss was always faster and more coordinated when it came down to it. Her strength did little to sway favor against an opponent she could never land a hit on.

The amber eyed ODST didn't answer her as she walked ahead, having too much fun messing with her hot-head of a best friend.

"Oh, so I can count on you to have my back against the whole Covenant army, but not one shorty…?" Yang muttered quietly to herself, before realizing she was being left behind. She heard Blake laugh as she caught up, and after a moment, gave a soft one as well. Not missing a beat, the slightly taller ODST put an arm around the shorter twin set of armor and began feeding her strategies of how they could take down the white haired demon together. It certainly got another laugh out of the usually quiet stealth specialist.

* * *

Another wind in the track of the subway rail system and the super soldier brought her hand to the underground wall as she kept walking. A few more feet and she stopped, her fingers snagging against a small divot in the concrete wall. With her flashlight angled at the area of inspection, a smile spread across her face. Ruby brought a finger to the right side of the small hole and pressed against an irregularity.

Suddenly, part of the rock in the shape of a rectangle jutted out of the wall below the indention and it flipped itself to reveal a keypad with both letters and numbers. The edge of the surface gave off a dim light as Ruby laid her hands against it and got to work.

The recon specialist entered in the last character and hit enter while the rest stood back and watched, before another, greater rectangle began to shift forwards. This one resembled a doorway however, and that was made obvious as the thick steel barrier automatically swung open for the team. Revealing a bright, halogen-lit entry room that presented yet another door for security.

Everyone's guns were up except the sniper's, who confidently stomped forwards. Ruby pressed her armored hand against a panel on the side of the next door and a green light flashed from the scanner. "Ruby. Sierra: Bravo Two Eight Zero …ONI Section Three: Beta-5 division." After giving her credentials, Ruby then pulled out a keycard and placed it on the scanner. There was a long pause after her words fled the room and over the team's heads before a positive chirp sang out and the reinforced door shifted unlocked.

Wordlessly, Ruby removed the card and tucked it back in place, concealing it. Gripping the steel handle with one hand, she pulled the door open as the squad fixed their sights on the new entrance only to lower them in shock.

The new interior beyond the stark white security checkpoint was as far from similar as possible. A long dark hallway led to a four way intersection coldly lit by a singular fluorescent light dangling precariously from the center. It cast a dim light against a figure slumped against the wall to the right of the hall.

Heavy, but deft feet made their way to the man in military guard gear, but as the Spartan neared to check, she could already tell he wasn't breathing. Kneeling down beside him, she picked up a hint of burnt meat and traces of deep scorch marks in his midsection.

"Anything?" Blake asked from behind as Yang focused on the corridors further in, Ember up.

A mournful shake of the head was all Ruby gave as she stood back up after removing his dog tag. Weiss couldn't take her eyes off the body. His face was obscured from the angle, but the cold lifelessness radiated from it nonetheless as she couldn't help but identify with him. Weiss' left arm shook against the DMR in her grasp as tears pricked at her eyes. She lost herself in her own mind as she imagined what her father must have looked like.

"Covenant energy sword? No sign of plasma burns from their normal firearms…" Yang pointed out after taking a look at the all too familiar wounds in the man's chest.

"Take a look at his pistol. It hadn't even been drawn yet…" Blake gestured to his hip after making sure the other halls were clear.

"Poor guy didn't see 'em coming…" Yang's tone took a slight patronizing curve as she removed the man's ammunition for herself.

The comment made Ruby hold her breath once she came to a realization. They weren't the first ones here, and she knew who beat them…

"Weapons up, Ghost squad! The Zealots are here!" Ruby informed cautiously under her breath as she brought her BR55HB up to her shoulder.

Blake was the next one ready with her M7S aimed at the forward corridor while Yang jumped up to her feet with Ember pumped and at the ready, no longer concerned with what was on the military guard's body. Weiss was the slowest, still busy staring at the man's bloodied corpse before the noise of Ruby's shifting boots broke her out of it. Panic filled them with all the stories they had heard of the fanatical warriors chosen by their "prophets". They had heard of how a single Zealot could match a Spartan armed only with their sheer faithful tenacity. They truly hoped those stories were fictional.

A moment or two of nerve grating seconds with no sign of life, friend or foe, and Yang finally released the breath she was holding. Most of the team relaxed their position, but Blake and Ruby still held their fingers next to the triggers, always on edge.

"I only saw two at the grav-lift, but they move quickly in pairs. So chances are they're already where they need to be. Let's just hope they don't have it yet…" A beat of worry flooded Ruby's mind as she thought of the worst case scenario, but she shrugged it off the very next moment as she began to lead the squad exactly to where they needed to go.

* * *

The stench of fresh corpses plagued the path Ruby had chosen. Bisected and de-limbed ONI personnel were strewn about the halls as the team continued further within the facility, doing their best to step over those that obstructed the walkway with their bloodied remains. At least they knew they were headed in the right direction…

The sights and absence of sound did little to quell the turmoil within the ODST squad's minds. Some of the deadliest instruments for war at the Covenant's disposal were present in this complex. And they were on the hunt for something. The team could only venture a guess at what ONI had found that the aliens wanted so badly.

"If the one in charge of this facility isn't in his personal office, then maybe here." Ruby explained after coming to a doorway that awoke good and bad nostalgia in her memories. Above the archway of a frosted glass sliding door was a sign that read **Lab** **Testing**.

This was where it all started for her. It was also the ending for so many others she had come to know during her time becoming a Spartan. The warm, celebratory smiles of her teammates after surviving the Spartan augmentations gave way to screams of agony that tore into her like shrapnel. They bounced and echoed within the Spartan's recon helmet, only growing in number and volume. She shut her eyes tightly and held back a whimper as those horrible memories she had recently dreamed of came rushing back full force.

It was finally shaken away at the call of her sister. The one good thing recently brought back from her past.

"Sis…? Ruby?! Are we going, or not?"

"Huh…?" The Spartan answered, heavy breaths filtering through her helmet. Ruby looked around and Weiss and Blake were stacked up on the left side of the door, while she and Yang were waiting in the middle of the hallway. "Y-Yeah. Give me a sec…" A quick head shake and the dark Spartan approached the door's panel as the other three eyed her suspiciously.

Feeling the eyes against her, Ruby relented with an unsteady breath. "…Just bad memories is all. I'm fine…"

The sniper then tapped at the keypad and the door quietly slid open from the correctly entered code. Inside was a wide corridor that led to multiple rooms on each side. Strangely, the team found no immediate signs of fighting or casualties past this point. Still, everything was deadly quiet and the team proceeded carefully and silently as Ruby gestured for Blake to fulfill her role and take point. "Look sharp! They're Zealots, so they could be anywhere with active camo. Our best chance against them is to take them one at a time. Maybe find a way to split them up…"

The faintest sound of boots scuffing against bare floor traveled from the team as they scanned each entryway for threats. The first wing resulted in nothing and as they came to a branching hallway, Ruby called for Blake to stop ahead.

"Hold up, Blake. Something's not right. There should be more people than this…" The silver eyed soldier peered around one of the wing's corners to find nothing. The silence was starting to grate on her nerves as she quickly moved up to an empty room and ducked inside to better protect herself while covering the hallway for the rest of the team.

"I doubt the Covenant would care about hiding the bodies…" Blake put forth through comms as she moved up to a further room in the hallway.

"No. They wouldn't…" Quickening her pace, Ruby treaded as quietly as she could with her Battle Rifle shouldered and pointed forwards. She knew the researchers had to be here somewhere, and just as she began to come up with an explanation, a muffled crash broke the eerie silence from a large room up ahead.

The team locked their gaze in the direction of the silence breaking commotion to find a large doorway to a room marked as research and development. The barrier was thick plated metal for containment and safety purposes, yet it did nothing to prevent entry to whatever managed to damage it badly enough to leave it partially ajar.

Ruby pressed forward ahead of Blake and the rest as she came to kneel beside the slowly shifting and sparking doorway to peek in.

The sizeable room was brightly illuminated if not for a few sources that had been broken or shot out during the recent attack. Rows upon rows of workbenches were aligned for staff to test and tinker on potential tools for humanity's salvation. They filled the room with the exception of the very back which was cleared out for an even bigger, vault-like door. And in front of it was a gathering of all the lab staff that hadn't been immediately killed. Some, only lucky to have that fate postponed for a brief moment, judging by a few fresh bodies beneath the pair of Zealot Elites.

"You think me a fool?! Open it yourself, and I may just let your worthless underlings live!" The larger scarlet caste Sangheili threatened an older looking gentlemen with white hair and small round spectacles resting crooked against his nose.

Smoking as if in anticipation, the Zealot's energy sword was brought to the man's face, illuminating the challenging green eyes that stared back at the monstrous creature. The other large hand clutched the brave man's throat and lifted him in the air as the alien contemplated whether or not to do away with the meat, like he had the other three that refused to give up the one in charge before this one foolishly spoke up to save the rest.

"Or, if you refuse like the others…" The low, demanding tone was accompanied by a gentle demonstration as he pressed the blade into the man's cheek. The researcher grimaced in pain as he could hear and smell his flesh begin to cook.

"I wouldn't do that…!" The interruptive voice traveled throughout the large room, source-less, before a light flickered on from a pedestal beside the heavy door. The hologram of a middle-aged woman appeared and she fixed the glasses hanging low from her nose. A stern expression adorned the purple colored figure's face as she glared down the Zealot intruders.

This cessation only infuriated the Elite warrior further as he tightened his grip around the man's throat in defiance of her warning.

"He's the only one with the proper codes to access what you came here for!" The small, glowing woman quickly half lied, sensing the Sangheili's impatience.

His grip reduced slightly and he pulled his sword away from the scarred gash now adorning the old man's face, but the reprieve was short, as he slammed the scientist against the wall once more with a crash to drive his point across. "My patience is running thin, human! Open the door and hand over the remnants of the ancients!"

The battered and bruised man let out a pained wheeze as he held onto the larger creature's hand around his throat. "I…I don't know what you're talking about!"

Some spittle flew out from the researchers choked out words and landed just inside the Elite's ornamental helmet. Enraged, the Zealot growled at the disrespect and readied his sword for the man's chest only to be distracted once again, by something outside the entryway this time.

Releasing an exasperated snarl, the Sangheili in charge sent a nod for the one staying back with the rest of the staff to check it out. After he watched his partner acknowledge this and activate his camouflage, he turned back to glare at the impudent human in his grasp.

"I'll ask you one last time to open the door, or I slaughter everyone here in front of you! One way or another we shall get what we came here for."

* * *

"Oh shit. I just lost one on my motion tracker!" Yang alerted through comms from her hiding position behind a door in the hallway.

"We all did, Yang. He must be using some highly advanced cloaking." Blake surmised from the hiding spot she shared with Weiss around the closest corner to the hallway, which was about thirty feet from the RND door.

"Get ready Ghost Squad!" Ruby pressed her back against the wall next to the busted door to conceal herself as much as possible, but still give her sight inside to the conflict. "Remember. One at a time." The red and black Spartan gripped her large combat knife, preparing for the one coming to them, before she heard the endangered scientist's response to the interrogating Zealot's ultimatum.

A rough cough came from the defenseless man as his air supply was becoming smaller with each attempt at breath. "…I…I Would rather that be my fate, then die knowing I gave up humanity's chance for survival… You shall get nothing from me Sangheili…"

"…So be it." With the cold words uttered from the alien's jaws, he brought his energy sword back up and readied it to skewer the scientist. He then thrust forward, only to have something adjust its course. It was as if the shadows themselves had captured the hilt of his blade and forced it straight up to pierce nothing but air.

"I can't let you do that big guy!"

Instantly the Zealot's eyes darted to the side to see what had really interfered. His slit-shaped pupils grew thinner at what he discovered. "Demon!" In an instant, this incredible nuisance to the Hierarch's plans had appeared from thin air, trying to rend his sword from his grasp.

Unsheathing her combat knife from its holster, the slightly shorter Spartan stabbed at the alien's throat only to have him let go of the scientist to grab her wrist before she reached her goal. With a guttural roar, he shoulder checked Ruby and sent her skidding back without the knife he had managed to strip her of.

The Zealot turned to the Spartan as she recovered from being shoved away and looked over the small blade. "I would have wished for a fair fight against you, **demon**. But no matter the situation, I cannot allow such a threat to the Great Journey to exist." He dismissively tossed the heavily used dagger to the side and raised his energy sword once more.

The sangheili took slow, methodical steps around the Spartan, sizing her up. Something had caught his eye as he watched her get into a loose fighting stance. It was as if she were out of breath already. He stopped when she relaxed and reached for something at her back.

"A fair fight, you say…? How's this…?" The silver eyed Spartan did her best to calm her breathing as she revealed the energy sword she had taken previously from aboard the cruiser, activating it. The plasma pulsed to life and formed the dual pronged blade of the Sangheili's most cherished weapon. She gave a few twirls, testing the feel of the new weapon, before bringing it up to inspect it further.

"Simply wielding the weapon does not make you my equal!" The outraged crimson Elite charged forward with his weapon drawn back as Ruby took a more defensive stance, ready to intercept.

* * *

"Wh-She's gone!" Blake relayed as she noticed their Spartan leader had disappeared right when they needed her. Their plan hinged on Ruby being able to keep the first Zealot occupied enough so they could pick him off from a distance. She had no clue what they were supposed to do now. The stealth specialist then turned to her Lieutenant beside her against the hallway wall, intent on finding the answers she sought. Unfortunately, it didn't appear that Weiss was even present with the way she was staring into the ground. Before Blake could tell the officer to snap out of her daze however, a haunting shimmer caught her eye behind Weiss.

"Lookout!" The dark haired woman warned as she pushed the other ODST to the ground, but she only switched places with Weiss…

Blake's eyes were wide as they darted to where the shimmer was, only to have everything go dark just as a searing pain raked across her face. The hissing sound of her visor splitting and her HUD alerting her of major damage came next as she fell to her knees and caught herself with one hand on the ground for stabilization.

The clanking of ODST armor falling to the ground shook Weiss from her stupor brought on by grief, only to watch in horror as Blake's helmet now had a gash across it. A delayed shriek of agony spilled from her sergeant's lips as she felt for her own face in panic.

"Blake?!" The officer reached out and grabbed Blake's shoulders as the trooper did nothing to refute it.

"W-Weiss…?"

The Lieutenant felt her heart sink at the weakness and doubt of the woman's voice. And it plummeted even further as a second later, Blake collapsed and went still against her shoulder.

All Weiss could do was glance at the side of Blake's motionless helmet, the opened side, as the world stopped for her. She was a statue. A cold, thoughtless statue, but for one that kept repeating in her head… _'Not again…'_ Tears ran down her cheeks in rivulets as she finally processed her father's death. The scene had plagued her since they witnessed it, but it just didn't seem real until now. Now, with her subordinate, her friend dying in her arms.

A dark liquid began to spill from the crack in Blake's helmet, dripping against her shoulder plate. Immediately, Weiss' hand shot up to clutch Blake's helmet to her own. "No!" Weiss hugged Blake to herself as the world snapped back to reality in a quick flash of grief and desperation. Desperate not to lose yet another so close to her.

Giving an indifferent clack of his mandibles, the Sangheili that had found them de-cloaked above the pair and brought his sword to bare down on the two ODSTs for the final time, only to flinch as something impacted his chest region and flickered against his energy shield harmlessly.

"Aaaaaaargghh!" Yang stormed after the Zealot above her comrades once she realized something went wrong. Again and again, she pulled the trigger of her pistol, a hellish glare on her face as she raced to stop the reptilian like alien from hurting them further. Each one had landed dead center, but did nothing except grab his attention as he brought an arm up to block his face from harm, his shields remaining strong. Hearing a click from her M6C sidearm, the blonde ditched it with a grunt and pulled out Ember to unleash on the Covenant that dared attack her sisters. "Get away from them!" Shot after shot being spaced by the sound of Yang pumping her shotgun after every one echoed through the hallway that kept her from Weiss and Blake. Unlike the pistol rounds however, Yang's Ember was showing considerably better results, as after each bang, the Sangheili's shields brightened and flickered before the sixth shot broke through and managed to wound the religious warrior.

Seeing the seven foot tall alien recoil from taking damage, Yang seized the opportunity and lunged with a ferocious roar nearly matched by the Zealot who had just enough time to raise his sword to try and counter…

* * *

A horrible hiss broke out in the research lab as the two energy weapons collided against one another. The holy warrior let out a ferocious bellow into Ruby's face as he put all of his weight down on her to win the stalemate, but he never got the chance as a pulse of light forced the two away.

Ruby glanced at her shield level and noticed a chunk was missing from the distortion. She then brought up her sword to gauge if her thoughts as to why were correct and noticed a problem with the blade's color and shape. It seemed whatever was keeping the blades in their form didn't like other similar designs coming into contact for very long. This was made apparent when they clashed once again and it felt like the blades were pushing away from each other.

The Spartan remained on the defensive, only batting away his advances as best she could while still trying to understand the weapon she wielded. She was being forced back however, and soon she would be up against the vault door. Ruby tried digging her heels in and keeping her ground, but the Sangheili easily put her off balance with each masterful flourish that sent her sword to the side, forcing her back or risk catching that blade of his before she could re-establish her guard. Only a few more steps and her back would be pressed against the solid barrier.

The Zealot prepared himself for another attack with a calculating glare. "You disappoint me, Demon! Why do you not strike back?! Are you hesitant with an unfamiliar weapon? Or are you simply…" The Sangheili warrior batted her sword away leaving her exposed once again and his eyes widened at the opportunity. "…too afraid?!" He lunged with his weapon, finally going in for a killing blow with her guard broken, but he met nothing as she leaped back and kicked off the wall to go sailing over him.

"How's this for afraid?!" Ruby howled as she charged the Sangheili who had just enough time to bring up his sword to block her own. That sickening hiss crackled against her ears again and she noticed the blades glowing brighter the more power she forced down on him. The Spartan let out a grunt of exertion as she gave everything she had to push through, hoping to unleash that back blast of energy on him this time.

The Zealot swordsman was one step ahead of her though and kicked her in the gut, sending her back. Before she could recover fully, he had stormed after and brought his sword in for an overhead strike. She had managed to catch it in another sword lock, but the force behind it ruined her already crumbling balance and sent her to the ground with him following to pin her.

"You are afraid…And weak. Just like the rest of your worthless race!" The Sangheili forced more pressure down on Ruby as he tried to break her resolve, but she kept struggling.

"What do you want?! Why did you come here?! What are a bunch of rocks to the Covenant anways?!" Ruby spouted out as she tasted iron. Her strength was waning the longer this fight went on after using her ability to save the scientist.

A furious growl left the Sangheili as he pressed down harder. "They are not **rocks**! The ancients residing within will bless us with their long forgotten wisdom and lead us along the path to the Great Journey…While you and your kind will be left behind and forgotten…!"

"So you're after rock spirits then?" Condescension was present in her weak voice as she tried to laugh, but it only got caught in the back of her throat as her muscles screamed for relief.

Enraged, The Zealot leader pressed down with all his might to silence the mocking, giving out a blood curdling cry as he leaned in.

Ruby couldn't keep the smirk from gracing her lips as he fell for it. She knew such devotion could also be exploited. She took advantage of his new position, kicking the Sangheili fully over her. As he tumbled forward and over her, she was quick to her feet with a kip up. Ready to end this before the situation became worse.

Rising to his own feet, the Elite clenched his fists and shook with fury as he had been made a fool of. He turned around to face his opponent for the last time, sword ready to finally make contact, only to find no trace of the dark colored Spartan anywhere.

A force struck his back and his shields hissed and flickered. Instantly, he knew what had happened before Ruby had fully finished with the first slash across his back. "How-…?" He turned around as swiftly as he could to block the next, but was met with a cold, emotionless black visor as Ruby delivered the energy sword into his abdomen. It broke through the remaining shields, tore his armor, and seared the flesh underneath. "Demon…" He spoke, haunted by the nothingness that resided within his opponent's "face".

"I guess…It wasn't a fair fight…After all…" Ruby huffed out, before relinquishing the blade and letting him fall to the side, defeated. She followed soon after. First to one knee, trying to remain upright, only for her vision to swirl around and begin to dim at the corners of her vision, her body even turning numb. The last thing she heard was her heart hammering away like a woodpecker against bark, before the darkness took her completely and she slumped next to his body. _'…Sorry…Guys…'_

* * *

Yang's eyes darted down to the sword just as it rose up for her and she pulled the trigger once more.

The Sangheili released a tortured scream as his right hand was obliterated along with the handle to his weapon. In a rage of pain, he backhanded the ODST with his remaining appendage and she stumbled back, losing her grip on the M90. It clattered to the ground and spun into the other hallway wall a few feet away from the three ODST and Zealot.

Her back foot resettled and balance recovered from the fierce strike, Yang charged him with a lowered head and angered cry. She made contact and attempted to push him further away from her two friends, but the ground she put between them was slow as he began to resist with his massive form. A pained grunt escaped her lips after he brought his remaining hand up and slammed his armored elbow down onto her back, stopping her momentum completely. Sensing that this was now a useless venture, the blonde ODST pushed herself out of the hold and went for a right hook at her opponent's face. It connected, but did little to push him back as he brought up a foot and kicked her in the chest.

Yang opened her mouth as her back hit the wall, but the only thing that came out was a weak choked gasp as he had kicked her right on her injuries. The wraps under her mesh underlay began to darken with her blood even more so as she began to fall to one knee, strength leaving her as pain filled its place. But Yang was brought back up against the cold metal surface as the Elite began to choke her with his remaining hand. A bit of blood spattered out from her mouth as she began to strain for air. Her heart was thumping in her ears and every nerve in her back and abdomen was crying out, but all that was on her mind was the two a few feet away. Being left with no other way to help them, the fighter clawed at his one handed grasp to try and release herself to little effect. Yang's attempts were met with a snarl of rage as the Zealot put more force into the hold and slammed her head into the wall for good measure.

Even with the helmet, the blonde ODST still felt the force channel through to her cranium and stars appeared in her blurred vision. The lack of oxygen only made things worse as her arms began to slacken against the hold. Her legs kicked against the wall helplessly as panic began to set in. He was crushing her windpipe. She choked out a bit more blood and her eyes began to lower.

"Weiss…" Yang began to gasp towards her comatose Lieutenant, like one grasps for straws when they are out of any other option. "…I'm sorry…" Lilac caught no trace of any effect the apology had on her leader, but she had to try. "…I'm sorry… everything's gone to shit, but…If you don't get off your ass right now… and hel-…!" Again the Elite slammed her against the wall, intent on squashing her pleas along with her life. .

"…Weiss!" One final cry of her superior officer's name was all Yang could muster to try and bring her urgent point across before her eyes lulled to a close and her grip slackened against his arm. Everything began to fade to one color for the dying ODST and sound reduced to a single buzz in her ears as nothingness began to take over.

The tone was interrupted, though. For one split second, there was no sound at all. No heart pounding away. Not even the warning buzzing of her HUD. Just silence. Until she heard a gasp for air and life returned to her lilac orbs.

Yang found herself on her side with the Zealot that had her dead to rights lying next to her with a bullet hole in the back of his head, lifeless. Her eyes then flicked to the sound of metal impacting against metal and found a familiar sidearm clack against the hallway floor a foot away from Weiss.

Her hand above the now ditched gun was shaking, but Weiss wasn't even looking in Yang's direction.

Yang noticed Blake's head now laid in their leader's lap as she struggled to get herself up on her forearms and stomach. Through a withered breath, the blonde soldier attempted to get her squad leader's attention now that the imminent problem was over. She ignored the burning wetness in her midsection as best she could. "Weiss…How is she…?"

There was no response from the white haired leader that made Yang think that she was heard. Weiss remained completely still, so she tried again. But before she could muster another word, the leader of Ghost Squad ripped off her helmet and threw it down the hall with an anguished, frustrated, scream. Her hair was in a mess, streaming down in front of her as she remained bowed towards Blake below her.

Yang scrambled into motion, hobbling over carelessly to her squad. It wasn't clear until she was right behind her, but Yang began to hear the hiccups of Weiss' strained cries.

Shaky knees sank down beside the shuddering Lieutenant. No longer did they have the ability to carry the enormous weight that burdened Yang down together with Weiss. The blonde's glassy purple orbs fell on Blake's bloody, sundered visor. Yang could catch a peek at the bridge of Blake's nose, but everything else was shadowed and crimson. She wanted to reach out and clasp her fallen friend's hand. To wish her healed by showing that she was still there waiting for her along with Weiss. Her hand gravitated towards Blake's, but instead she recoiled before she reached her goal.

A feeble cough broke through Weiss' crying. Lilac and azure gaped as Blake's arm began to move. It was a small twitch, but after looking to each other, they knew it had really happened.

"Blake!?" They screamed in unison as Yang removed her helmet to make sure it was real. They both began to tear up as the hand weakly began to lift up towards their voice.

Yang's was the first hand to grasp and make contact with the unsteady fingers of Blake. She and Weiss held on and cradled the hand, their only link to know that their sister was still alive.

"Can…Can you hear us? Blake, please…" Weiss begged for a more definite answer to put her worries at ease, but the answer didn't come. They could only hear her shallow breathing for moment after moment of waiting.

It was then that the hand in Yang's grip sent a more powerful squeeze from the other end. It was still weak, but she could feel the difference in intensity nonetheless. It almost put a smile on her face, but they both felt their hearts leap into their throats as Blake croaked out a response.

"I…I can't see…" The fear in Blake's quiet voice matched the shock on their faces.

Yang felt like a stake was driven through her heart. How deep was the gash? Were these her final moments with her best friend if it had been bad enough to rob her of her sight? Her worst fears grasped her mind as Blake laid before her, weakly breathing. It was then that she noticed Weiss beside her. The Lieutenant had yet to gaze away from the sundered visor of the stealth specialist since discovering her consciousness, but what especially grabbed the blonde's attention was the white-knuckled clench of her fist balled on her knee plate.

It must have been tearing her up inside, Yang realized. Weiss always felt responsible for everything that went on around Ghost squad. Even if it was their own stupid antics, she always stepped up to take blame. She thought that was just the leader Weiss was, but maybe it was more than that.

Weiss' eyes were clenched shut as she berated herself internally for causing her squad mate such pain. Panic rose in her chest as a hand grabbed the one atop Blake's. It surprised her to learn that the hand was surrounded by a familiar warmth. And as she opened her eyes and traced who the hand belonged to she was met with a pair of concerned lilac and a smile that told her why.

As her leader shied away from her consoling gaze, Yang doubled her efforts to put Weiss at ease, not letting her hide by herself in misery. After putting a hand on the white haired woman's shoulder, Yang leaned into her ear to whisper. "She's ok, Weiss. Blake can come back from this, you know that." The gentle hand she gave to Weiss then squeezed almost painfully. "And I know you will too, right?"

Weiss felt like sinking in on herself again. She didn't feel like she deserved to come back from this. It should have been her in Blake's condition…But what would that have helped? Accomplished? Blake saved her for a reason. And now she was starting to realize why. That they needed her, now more than ever. "I…I've been such a fool…" Her voice was hoarse from the crying, giving it an overpowering tone of remorse.

Yang smiled to herself as Weiss was finally coming back. "…I would have gone with complete ass, but fool works too…"

It actually made the Lieutenant softly smile for a moment, a semblance of peace in such a dark time. Weiss then fondly looked to Blake with the tug on her lips. It turned melancholic, but still persisted as she thought to herself that she would make it up to Blake someday.

Yang put her arm around her leader as a silence fell over them, happy that her insult had made the point she was going for rather than making the situation worse. She then curled her fingers into Weiss' arm, forming an iron grip that said everything for her. Yang was there for her. And she knew that Weiss would be there for both of them.

Weiss let her head fall against Yang's shoulder, and the lilac eyed woman just listened as she began to release quiet, thankful tears. It was getting harder to breath for Yang as well, yet she couldn't let that stop what she thought was her grief keep her from helping Weiss through her own troubles. She had felt the tears threatening to spill over once again as she glanced at Blake on the floor, but she wouldn't let herself cry. Not now. She just held tighter to her white in shining armor.

"Hey, Yang…?" Weiss' voice called softly after her cries settled down.

Little more than a hum, came the blonde's response as she rested against her squad leader.

"I know you called me…" The Lieutenant embarrassingly cleared her throat before continuing. "…Momma Schnee…But I think more often than not, you're the caretaker of the team…Well, when you're not being childish…"

A beat passed as Weiss waited for a response, but after nothing came from Yang she looked up, expecting a glare. She saw instead, an unconscious face and Yang began to suddenly collapse.

"Yang?!" The squad leader called out. And on reflex, Weiss caught her before she slammed her head against the cold metallic floor. She looked all over her prone body frantically for signs of what caused the sudden spell. Unsteady breathing was coming from the blood-tinged lips of her friend and Yang's slickened brow was furrowed in effort as she coughed up red spittle. The white haired woman felt that the usually warm hands of her sister-in-arms were now as cold as ice.

"No no, please…PLEASE!" She screamed to her lung's limits. Weiss had a death grip on Yang's right hand as once again she was losing someone dear to her. Tears were stinging at her eyes as she was surrounded by her falling squad. Her friends. Her family perhaps more dear to her than her real one.

"Over here!"

Weiss glanced up at the voice through misty eyes to see a blurry figure waving an arm behind them to then be flanked by a few more similar in stature coming from the RND lab.

"Are you OK?" A male voice asked as the figure took to the other side of Yang.

"They're still breathing…I don't… kn-know for how long, please!" Her voice was weak and pleading through her grief, never the voice of a Schnee like her family had always told her. It never even crossed her mind though, as her hands never left Yang's right. Even as the group of researchers, lab assistants, and doctors helped carry Yang and Blake on a stretcher to a more suitable place.

* * *

 **Things aren't looking up for Ruby and Ghost squad. But hey, they're finally somewhere to rest it seems. So that's nice. Leave a review please, if you feel so inclined. It really helps and is very much appreciated!**


	9. Last Mission on Remnant

Chapter 9: Last Mission on Remnant

Eyelids fluttered open to a clean grey ceiling and an uncomfortable groan escaping out into the spacious treatment room.

Yang blinked the tiredness away and glanced down at herself. She was out of her armor and underneath a simple white sheet. Her arm had an IV in it and she was also hooked up to a heart monitor. The beeping was stable and as she followed the IV line from her arm, she noticed the standard saline solution bag along with another nearly empty one of a different color from the usual clear. Blood transfusion. She must have lost so much blood from not checking on her wounds. Especially after the fight with the Zealot. The blonde trooper felt like such an idiot for not being more careful. She sighed to herself as she brought up her free arm to block the bright lights overhead, thinking of what she did to always get into these kinds of situations.

"Welcome back, idiot…"

Yang pulled her arm away and looked to her right to find the voice and on a similar bed to her own was her Lieutenant with a sly smile. "Hey, boss…"

The smile dimmed from Yang's tired voice as Weiss's concern showed itself and she crossed her arms. "How are you feeling?"

"Mmh, tired…" Yang shut her eyes for a moment, only to glance back at her leader and notice the bandage around her left bicep. "…And, you?" She said, giving a clear gesture to Weiss' arm.

The white haired ODST glanced down to her wound and showed a grateful smile as she understood her friend. "It's just a small wound. No radiation poisoning… I should thank your sister when I see her again…"

"Where's is Ruby? …And Blake?" Yang asked, hopeful at first, before growing tentative.

All Weiss did was give a nod past Yang, to the next bed. The grip on her arms tightened as Yang looked where she directed.

On the bed to Yang's left was a still figure in nothing but the inner layers of an ODST uniform with wrappings covering their visage. Without a doubt, she knew this was Blake. Especially with the strands of black hair peeking out of the bandaging.

"She hasn't woken up yet…"

"How bad is it…?" Came Yang's response as she looked back at her leader that seemed to want to just curl up into herself. "…Is she really…?" She didn't want to say it, but after what Blake uttered about not being able to see, it had her horrified for her friend.

"The doctor told me that the sword missed her left eye, but went right through the other. She's going to be able to see, but still…It was so close to ending her life…"Azure couldn't tear away from the motionless form past the blonde once she was brought up again. And bruises were most likely starting to appear from how tightly she was holding herself. It sent a pang through Yang as she watched Weiss deal with the guilt in a less than healthy manner.

"Weiss…"

The Lieutenant hastily put a stop to Yang's attempts as she sat up. "-…I know, don't blame yourself. But how, Yang? How do I just forget it, without feeling…" She trailed off as her fists tightened until the white of her knuckles were visible and she gritted her teeth. It wasn't until a little later that she forced herself to relax with a depressed sigh, letting it go for now. "…I can't forgive myself. I just can't…" It was self-hatred. She felt she let her team down in the worst way, at the worst time.

"You fucked up…" Yang felt Weiss flinch at the admission, but continued. "…You did, but so does everybody. You're not perfect, you know? No one is. So stop beating yourself up cause you think we can't trust you anymore… You'll always be the boss to me…And I'm sure if Blake was awake, she would say the same. You know why I know this…?" The golden haired fighter waited until Weiss looked over towards her before she continued. "…Cause we both know you won't rest until you make it up to us!" The smile Yang flashed to Weiss was a mischievous one.

A smile of her own tugged at the corner of her lips as Weiss then stared down at her lap. She was ever grateful for how Yang's spirit always seemed to liven up even the dreariest of moods. "Don't I get a say in this?" She knew better though.

"Not a chance, boss!"

* * *

Some time passed as the two did little talking. The blonde trying to keep it going like a fire in a rainstorm, but with how Weiss felt, and with how she was in general, most of the half hour they had alone together was spent in awkward silence. It was then that they were saved by the treatment room door sliding open to welcome in two others.

"Ruby!" Yang exclaimed as she caught sight of her sister's uncovered face. It made her raise out of bed, too elated to see her sister was ok to think about the consequences.

A spike of burning pain made itself known in the blonde's side and she doubled over with a groan.

"Yang! You're like a toddler!" Ruby berated with a tired smile as she made her way to check on her hurt sister and set her helmet on the floor beside the bed. She knew she was no better though, for she also shared the same worry after hearing about the team's encounter from the other person that walked in with her.

"Hey, I'm the older one! I don't have a choice but to worry about-…" The injured ODST stifled a gasp as she got a closer look at her sister's eyes. Dark circles were imprinted below her eye lids, cheek bones hollowed out grimly to give the appearance of someone incredibly malnourished and exhausted. Her eye color was a dead giveaway to Yang, though. What she remembered as bright silver was now a dull, gunmetal gray. "Ruby, you look exhausted!"

Before the red head had a chance to come up with an excuse, the man by the door who had stayed quiet throughout this short reunion answered for her.

"That would be because she is. And that is both equal parts my fault and hers…" The white haired bespectacled man spoke with heavy responsibility, yet it seemed not too unmanageable a burden as he stood straight and tall with his arms behind his back. "…We never could get her to restrain herself when it came to using her acceleration. And she has never once given the consequences a second thought…" He wore a somber smile as Ruby looked back to him with one of shy guilt.

The unknown man then glanced from Ruby to her sister to see a glare forming towards the both of them. "Where are my manors? My name is Doctor Ozpin. Head researcher in charge of this facility. And the one responsible for your sister's…condition." He tried thinking of a better way to phrase it, but nothing seemed more accurate without sugarcoating it and making it seem like he was trying to dodge the blame. His tone spoke of regret, yet without any willingness to change what was done to her.

Ruby felt Yang's hand underneath her own flex and form a tight fist in the blanket over her lower body. The embers in Yang's eyes made it obvious that she was not happy with what he had to say. She braced herself for the upcoming conversation that she and Ozpin planned to have with Ghost squad.

"What condition!?" Yang roared, knowing that his phrasing eluded to more than just her super speed. A pit of despair had started forming in her stomach, but only swelled further with anger towards this untrustworthy ONI member.

The contempt directed at him from the majority of the room did little if anything at all to affect his tone as the scientist now known as Ozpin began to explain with a calm, clear voice. He had prepared for this moment, as he knew it would happen eventually. "As I'm sure you've witnessed with your time together in the field, Ruby has moments of weakness. Times where she is fatigued and sluggish. I'm also sure that you've noticed the correlation between these instances happening immediately after the use of her unique ability. It's no coincidence. While her acceleration makes her unfathomably fast, in order for her to reach this speed her body tries its hardest to keep up as it was intended to do. Unfortunately, even with the genetic augmentations she has undergone as a third generation Spartan, this is simply impossible and her body can't handle the strain. Her heart for example beats at what all in the medical field would consider fatal levels, and yet she still lives. Perhaps it's due to the muscle enhancements that she's survived this long, but eventually it will catch up to her."

"By the look of her, it already has." Weiss whispered angrily as she stared into Ruby's fatigued gray.

"She's right…" Yang agreed as she faced her sister and turned her left hand upward to take hold of the Spartan's hand above hers tightly. "…You died, Ruby! When we crashed from the cruiser, you weren't breathing and your heart had completely stopped!"

Ruby couldn't manage to look Yang in the eyes as she had assumed as much, but didn't want to mention it.

"…You told us you would be fine…You promised me that you would say so if you were-…!" Yang had begun to scold the super soldier, but she was abruptly cut off.

"-You mean like how you told us about your reopened wounds?" Ruby growled out as she gestured to Weiss and Blake around them.

The blonde was stunned at the revelation. She tried refuting it, but couldn't find the words under her sister's judgmental glare. It had Yang shocked, anxious even, as she had been caught by the one she was trying not to burden.

"I noticed Yang. I just gave you the benefit of the doubt, and figured you would tell us if it was a major issue!" Her tone changed from deadpanned obviousness, to melancholic. "But you didn't…You hid it from us. From me…" The silver eyed Spartan shook her head sadly, then snapped back up to her sister angrily. "You could have bled out, Yang!"

Yang dodged the glare as she hid her sight line on her lap. She knew her sister was right. There was no refuting that. No excuse could have been good enough to explain why she didn't want to worry her newly reunited sister. "…That stupid Xiao Long pride…Thanks dad…" Her shoulders slumped in self-pity, a sad smile on her face as she tried to both shift the blame and make lighter of the situation with a joke. However, Yang wiped away a stray tear as the gravity of the situation and how her sister must be feeling was brought to light. "…I'm sorry."

There was a beat as Ruby processed her explanation. Her whimper of an apology. Calculating silver trying to decipher regretful lilac. The words struck harder than was probably intended with the redhead. Ironically, it actually made the Spartan laugh, albeit a withered one, with little noticeable humor.

How moronic that they both wanted to hide their problems from each other in order to keep from being a burden, when all they really did was become even more burdening.

"…You're not the only victim of dad's genes…" Ruby watched with a half-smile as Yang finally met her gaze with one of surprise. "…I'm sorry too."

Instantly, Yang pulled Ruby into a full, desperate hug. It didn't take long before the sniper returned it. She felt how Yang clutched at her tightly, afraid to let go after the revelation that she had an imminent expiration date. The thought made her squeeze back harder in a frantic attempt to set her mind at ease. She knew the ODST was still recovering, though.

"Yang, you need to calm down." Ruby spoke softly into the golden locks that adorned her sister's head. Carefully, she lowered Yang back down to rest without separating from the hug until she was fully on her back.

"I don't want to lose you all over again, sis…" Yang strained to get out as she tried to hold onto the Spartan's armor. Her hands were quickly grabbed onto however, as Ruby looked Yang in the eyes with a mustered smile.

"W-What are you crying about? Can't…y-you just be happy that we got to see each other again…?" Ruby's words were slurred with heartache before she buried her face in Yang's shoulder and wrapped her arms around her, caution no longer on her mind with her hurt sibling."…I had missed you so much! I was so happy… and nervous when we discovered that your ship was close enough to help! I didn't know how to handle it, but now I'm just glad I got the chance to see you! To talk to you, before…" Red tipped hair shook slowly from side to side as the Spartan pulled back and tried to banish the doomed thoughts. "…Look…" She grabbed Yang's hand and brought it to her own face to feel. "…I'm still alive. I'm still alive, Yang! After countless ops and seemingly unbeatable odds, I survived them all. So don't look at me like that…Please…I need you to have hope…For the both of us…"

The blonde felt the desperation overflowing from her sister as she clutched her wrist almost too tightly. "You're right…" She was being so foolish. What good did it do either of them to be afraid of death in their line of work? She should have been used to this by now, but it seemed like it never got easier to think about.

Yang smiled down at her as she laid a hand atop the Spartan's head to gently run it through the crimson tinged hair. "…I will." Her little sister seemed to calm ever slightly from her soothing voice, and Yang realized she had too while holding Ruby.

No more words were spoken between them as they clung together. No more fits of hopelessness. No ridiculous promises of beating an incurable experimental defect. Just two sisters simply spending time together while they had the chance.

* * *

She wished she could have stayed in that embrace with Yang forever, but the coming alien threat never receded from Ruby's mind even now. It felt wrong, like she betrayed her sister for just now bringing this up, but she couldn't let it come from Ozpin and not herself. Swallowing down her reluctance, the Spartan removed her head and looked up to her sister with misfortune in her eyes. "…Yang…Remnant is lost…"

Purple orbs darkened at the news. Yang searched all over those big silver spheres for signs of falsehood, but deep down she knew it to be the truth ever since the _Morality_ ignited in the skies above the planet. And Ruby wouldn't be saying this now if it wasn't absolute. They had lost. "There's…Nothing we can do? Please tell me you have some kind of plan? E-Either of you?!" Yang desperately looked between her sister and the ONI scientist behind her for signs of a possible counter-offensive. Her eyes shut tightly in hopelessness when none came. "Then, what was the reason we came here for?!"

"There is no saving Remnant…That much is certain…" Ozpin's somber voice affirmed as he stepped closer to the sister's on the middle bed. "…However, there is still hope for us. The last friendly contact we had was requesting aid to evacuate civilians. There may still be a way off this planet."

"Where are they, then!?" Yang demanded. A new fire in her eyes as a purpose presented itself in such a futile state. A chance to save as many people on their home world as they could was better than putting up a fruitless final effort of combat.

"He doesn't care about them, Yang. He just wants to save himself…Isn't that right, Doctor?" Weiss cut in with an icy glare at Ozpin.

"Weiss…" Ruby couldn't believe the horrid accusation, but Ozpin spoke up next with a small smile.

"Your mistrust in ONI is apparent, and in most cases, just, Ms. Schnee. I do seek a way off this planet. However, it's not just for myself. For what remains of my staff and you all as well. Many were injured during the Zealot assault just as you were, and none have military training. We do have transport to Fort Beacon, but as I've just told you we have no way of protecting ourselves without you."

Weiss and Yang looked at each other, silently debating if they wanted to go along with the man's plan. From Yang's point of view, it was already decided. And that tenacity was hard to argue with as Weiss already knew. Not that she would have, seeing as they didn't really have any other options besides stay and die.

"Wait, did you say Fort Beacon? I thought it was demolished by the Covenant bombardment when we arrived?" Yang questioned, the same wonder in Weiss' eyes as well.

"It took heavy damage, but still it remains trying its best to aid the city of Vale." The man said, putting the blonde at ease.

"So you want us for an escort mission?" Of course, Weiss already knew the answer. She just wanted him to say it.

"Precisely, Ms. Schnee…" A directionless voice made itself known as the pedestal near the door began to emit a purple light. A hologram in the same form as the one in the RND lab. The small woman surrounded in a purple light then turned her attention to the Spartan on the bed with an expectant expression. "Ruby, you really should be getting ready now. You all should. We don't have all day."

"Yes, professor…" Ruby submitted easily as she hopped off the bed and picked up her helmet, having no qualms about taking orders from the little program.

"Professor?" Yang cocked an eyebrow as she looked to her sister for answers. She received them, as well as a smile before the super soldier put her head gear back on.

"Professor Goodwitch. She's the A.I. that taught me while I was here. Taught all of the Spartans that came through here, actually…" Despite the gloom in the final words that came through her helmet, Ruby continued towards the small raised platform that the hologram sat upon and knelt down in front of the image with a smile.

"Yes. It's a pleasure, Ms. Xiao Long. Ms. Schnee…" The purple figure paused as Ruby reached down with something, then disappeared entirely as she inserted the small chip. After waiting a moment, the sniper pulled the device back out and moved to put it in the back of her recon helmet. "…I'll be coming along with you to help however I can since there's not much use for me here when everyone else is leaving." This time, the professor's voice was coming from the Spartan's external comms as if she was the one saying it.

"You know you won't hear me complaining!" Ruby comforted the extra being in her mind and received a personnel message from them.

"…Thank you, Ruby…" The feminine voice was soft and sincere, before then becoming slightly sterner as she continued. "…Just do me a favor and try not to use your acceleration. You know the aftereffects throw both of us for a loop, so only in extreme emergencies are you allowed, understood?"

"Yes, ma'am."

While Ruby got readjusted to another voice in her head, Ozpin took a look at the blood bag connected to Yang to notice most of its contents empty. "To be perfectly honest you could use more rest, but we don't have the time. Would you mind trying to stand on your own, Ms. Xiao Long? It doesn't have to be for a long period of time." The man removed the needle from the ODST's arm and quickly bandaged it as a small bead of red began to form from the incision.

Without a word, Yang tore the blanket off of her body and swung her legs to the side. She pushed herself closer to the edge of the bed until her feet touched the cold metal floor. Truthfully, the close quarters specialist still felt like she had a few cracked ribs and a heavily bruised back, but if the rest of the team was going then so was she. So with a determined breath, Yang rose up to put weight on her legs and carry herself. It proved no easy task as she hunched over on her right arm to help support her weight. Her arms and legs quaked to remain upright before she collapsed back down against the bed, sweat beginning to pool on her brow.

"Yang…" Weiss walked over to her friend in an attempt to reason with her, but her sergeant was having none of it.

"Don't tell me I can't fight, 'cause that's bullshit! I can do this!" The blonde ODST tried once again to stand up, this time managing two sluggish steps along the edge of the bed before her legs gave out and she fell back down, nearly sliding off the side of the bed if Weiss wasn't there to correct her.

"Calm down, Yang! I never said anything of the sort! I want your help too!" The white haired girl yelled over her defiance, trying to get through her stubborn nature.

A groan was expelled from Yang as Weiss took ahold of the blonde's arm and wrapped it around her shoulders, helping her off the bed. "And I also know when there's no stopping you…"

The words rendered Yang quiet for a spell while Weiss brought her closer to the door. She was puzzled by her Lieutenant's actions. Weiss was being abnormally…Nice… It then occurred to her why the sudden change happened, and she smiled to herself. The Ice Queen was already doing her best to make it up to them. "…Thanks, Weiss… I really didn't want to sit this one out…"

"W-Well… You won't be slacking off while I'm in charge…" The Lieutenant stuttered embarrassingly at the unexpected gratitude and the rare use of her actual name by the blonde. But if Yang had noticed the slip-up, she wasn't showing it as they began to make their way to their supplies with the help of Ruby as a guide.

* * *

Yang crossed her arms as her mouth formed a grumpy frown behind her ODST helmet that she wore once again. She dug herself further in the passenger seat of the Warthog LRV that she and Weiss had climbed into per her sister's orders. With a reluctance found through jealousy, the blonde trooper slyly peered behind her seat to watch her sister hop up onto the gunner platform and ready the chain gun mounted there.

Catching the envious gaze from Yang, Ruby smiled at her sister from behind her slim recon helmet. "Sorry Yang. With your injuries becoming a recurring issue, it could be dangerous to leave you so vulnerable back here. You'll just have to provide us with help from the passenger seat!"

Yang twisted her head back to stare away from her sister and the gun as she grumbled under her breath something about how unfair it was that she had to sit out of the fun while Ruby also had health issues.

From the driver seat, Weiss glanced up through the rear view mirror as two engineers carried an injured researcher on a stretcher into the back of an M12 Warthog APC. They weren't the first…She had already watched Blake be taken into the back of the middle APC between their LRV and the tailing Armored Personnel Carrier.

Guiding two transports all the way to Beacon with nothing to defend themselves with but a single Warthog was not on the list of objectives from the original mission that brought them back to their home world. But as the Lieutenant thought of her comrade, her sister stuck in the back unable to defend herself, she'd be damned if she didn't see this through to the end and get her team the help they desperately needed.

As Weiss thought this, something else caught her attention through the mirror, as Ozpin walked up the steep ramp into the same personnel carrier as Blake. But it wasn't just him that caught her attention. A silver briefcase reflected the glare from the motor pool lights and bounced them harshly into her irises. "Ergh…What's that he's carrying?!" Her question was rhetorical, only asked out of annoyance, but the Spartan behind her answered after following her original gaze before the white haired girl had shielded her face.

"The vital parts of his research, probably. He can't leave it here for the Covenant to find so he's taking it with us."

The reasoning attracted her gaze one last time before he disappeared behind the bulletproof sidings of the vehicle and she noticed another peculiar thing about the man that she only recently met. His case had been handcuffed to his wrist. _'Paranoid much…?'_ The curious thought entered her mind as she pulled her helmet on, bringing her back to the giant vault that the Zealots were intent on getting into and what might have laid within, until another voice cut in.

"That should be all of the staff, Ms. Schnee. Just give the word and I'll raise the gate for us to be on our way." Weiss felt her eye twitch as the alien voice filtered into her helmet's comms. It felt unnatural from the normal squad comms, like it was infiltrating her very mind instead of the helmet frequency. Hopefully, they would get used to it sooner rather than later.

The squad leader released a calming sigh before she gave a response. "…Very well, Ms. Goodwitch...Everyone ready?"

"When you are, Weiss!" Ruby chirped, pulling the slide back on the chain gun.

Weiss didn't have to look at Yang to ask for her response, hearing another upset grumble that made a little grin prick at her lips. "Let's save some ONI hide, then!"

* * *

"Ya know, I really don't like that we're basically going in circles!" Yang had to roar over the engine and squealing suspension after their vehicle was bounced to and fro by the difficult terrain of the familiar forest they were driving through.

"I'm not lost!" Weiss defended vehemently as she hit the brakes to power slide around yet another tree in her path.

"It just bugs me that we're basically going back the way we came! That's all!" The trooper in the passenger seat explained as she rocked to the right and caught herself from being flung from the vehicle.

"Straight through was the fastest way, Yang. It would have taken us the rest of the day to go around the forest. Not to mention, if something happened and we had to protect the others." The Spartan chimed in to her sister, a thumb back at the other two APCs following behind. That motion reminded Ruby of something very important and she activated her comms. "Sir, have you had any luck reaching them yet?"

The delay was brief before she received her reply. "Not yet. Maybe we're not quite in range. Perhaps once we reach the edge of the woods, they will be able to pick us up." Ozpin, still in the middle vehicle, had been trying to get in touch with the remnants of Beacon's forces, but was having no such luck since the singular broadcast of the fort's situation after the bombardments.

It was then that something started coming through on his side. Short, scrambled words, filled with static in between. "-…eed…Taking…Tra-…-one respond?!..."

The engineer beside Ozpin tried clearing up the signal as he tried to reach out to the plea, only for both of them to receive nothing. A deep worry settled over the wise man. "Ruby, get us there as fast as possible…"

"Weiss, step on it!" The sniper issued instantly once the order reached her. And the ODST obliged.

The LRV crashed into a mud pit, splattering everything around as the four-wheel-drive saw them safely through it with little problem. Roots and rocks along the way did little to hinder the rugged maneuverability of the Warthog so aptly named. Even the clusters of trees could be worked around in the nimble vehicle piloted by a capable driver. And, after a few close scrapes going top speed, eventually the pack of M12s carried them through the forest to familiar scenery. In the distance was the city of Vale. And near it, sat on a hill, was a smoldering Beacon…


	10. Into the Nothing

Chapter 10: Into the Nothing

Yang's right fist clenched against the Warthog's roll cage in unease. It wasn't due to the rocky terrain the team was circumventing, or the speed at which Weiss was driving, but because of the mistrust she still felt for the strange man affiliated with ONI.

"How do you expect to get any better if all you do is stress out?" Weiss murmured offhandedly to Yang through private comms.

"What?" The ODST in the passenger seat turned to the driver in confusion. She took her hand back from the railing without thinking and felt a cramp begin to set in from the sudden change in grip. After a silent groan of discomfort, Yang realized that Weiss must have noticed.

"We have our orders, right? At least we're not out here wandering aimlessly waiting for the Covenant to glass us…It could be worse." The Lieutenant did her best to try a more positive outlook on their situation. It told Yang that what her boss was thinking was what she was worried about.

"You mean like -having to get involved with top secret ONI stuff- worse?"

Weiss let out a regretful breath as she kept her eyes forward, still leading the party towards Vale and Beacon. "Yeah, like that…"

"ONI doesn't exactly let people go off Scott-free with their secrets, Weiss. What are we gonna do if this guy doesn't turn out to be any different? Ruby's Ruby, but…I'm…" Yang felt a lump build in her throat, unable to finish the sentence. Scared? Angry for letting her little sister get taken by ONI? Not that she could have done much at 8 years old while also recovering from the crash. Still, she wasn't allowed the chance to decide how she felt when her squad leader began again with fear just as present in her voice.

"I don't know. All we can do right now is help these people and help ourselves with a way off Remnant. If it ever feels like he's going to cross us, then we'll act. But wait for my lead, Yang. If it comes to that, we need to act fast and precise. Risky doesn't even come close to describing attacking an ONI officer." Weiss shivered in her seat at the thought. An elbow jolted her out of it and she looked over to Yang. She could only see the dark visor staring at her, but a second later she could plainly picture the smile on the blonde's face thanks to her following words.

"I'm just glad I'm not the only one sweating this. A girl down and heading into who knows what kind of danger just to help ONI get away… I know I can trust you to make the right call when it comes though."

The genuineness in Yang's voice reached Weiss and her grip on the steering wheel tightened firmly. She still felt so undeserving of her fellow ODST's support and trust after what happened underground. It lifted the burden on her heart to hear that and warmed it as well as she wanted to prove her right. _'What happened to disrespectful, obnoxious Yang from a day ago?'_ Weiss wanted to ask the blonde that very question, but the Spartan on the back of their vehicle stumbled into the conversation she didn't even know was happening to relay a message.

"Ozpin's reached them, and it looks like things aren't going to be so easy…"

* * *

Circuits hissed and sparked in the dim light of what remained of the bridge aboard the _Veil of Credence._ The Covenant Corvette had received massive damage from both the bold UNSC Frigate and the crash landing it was forced to undergo upon the engagement.

"Damage Report!" A Sangheili barked with an authority matching his officer ornamented armor as he stood up from the rough landing they suffered.

"We've lost all power to the ship." Another coughed out as he stumbled over to the main console flickering with disrepair. "And due to the damage our hull took, we're grounded Shipmaster, power or not."

This made the Elite in charge slam his fist into the side of the charred ship. That was not going to make their mission an easy one with no way to abandon this world once they retrieved the Zealots with the artifact in tow. Reluctantly, the Shipmaster tried his own personal comms to reach the Battlecruiser still orbiting the planet for a sitrep and new orders. Disgrace never made it out of his mouth as he called in, but the feeling dug deep within his mind as he was already failing in his first mission as ship commander. "This is the _Veil of Credence_. We've suffered significant damage, but survived the descent with moderate casualties. We can still locate the artifact and the recovery team. We just-…"

Another voice crackled in over the long range signal to interrupt him. "…-eil…Cr-..dence… Lost c-..ntact…Zeal-..s…Sending-…-orces to aid in recover-…" There was a long pause of nothing but static before the same signal was found again. "…port again when you've retrieved…" Static once again flooded the channel just as a fellow Sangheili, taller than the one in charge and fitted with orange-golden armor, approached him expectantly.

"Orders, Shipmaster?"

"I believe the Zealots have failed in retrieving the relic. If the humans still have it, we can't let them escape. Gather what resources we have left. There is still one functioning human base close to where the Zealots last reported in. If we destroy it, they'll have nowhere to flee."

"Should we not wait for reinforce-…! A fist met the Elite, silencing his comment of the shipmaster's plan as he recoiled.

"You fool! Do you not see the disgrace we shall face if we do nothing but allow others to clean up our mess?!" The Shipmaster growled grabbing his subordinate by the throat as he looked him in the eyes. "Is this what you want? To let others progress and grow stronger while we remain unproven?"

The Elite's response was a weak cough as he sank to one knee, now far below the Shipmaster's eye level, his height reduced to that of a grunt.

"I thought not…" He spat as he released the suffocating Sangheili. "Now ready our soldiers!"

"As you wish…" The one on the ground struggled with the few words, but scrambled to his feet once he was able. Without a moment's delay, he turned around to hastily get out of his commanding officer's sight and fulfill his duty, reputation and pride bruised severely.

With the ordeal behind him, the Shipmaster glanced to the cracked bridge viewport to gaze over the nearby smoking city leftover from the original Covenant assault. His eyes stayed transfixed to the quiet chaos happening miles away. He was no stranger to it. He earned his place as Shipmaster amongst the bloodshed. Doubt began to prick at the edges of his mind though. Already, his ship was rendered inoperable as soon as it arrived to begin the first mission under his control. A low growl left his throat as he could not bare this shame again. He would see to it personally that the Covenant would retrieve the relic and eradicate this inferior species. His worth would soon be proven. With this in mind, the Shipmaster quickly turned and marched towards the ship's hanger to check on his forces.

* * *

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked worriedly to the Spartan's previous words. Before the Spartan had a chance to explain, a small light could be seen traveling in the air. It soared higher and higher until it reached the apex of its arc and began plummeting towards what they believed to be their destination. Another one went up, then another. And as they quickly approached, it became clear to the group what it was.

"That Wraith is harassing the base. We need to take it out before there's nothing left to get us off Remnant. Let's get its attention, Weiss!" Ruby began to spin up the chain gun she commanded and aimed it at the small purple dot they were getting closer to.

"Right!" In agreement, the Lieutenant began driving straight towards the enemy with the APCs following loosely behind.

As they got closer to their target, it didn't appear to be alone. A ground force accompanied the hovering tank, but the majority seemed to be trying to make its way up the spiraling path leading to Beacon which resided atop a massive plateau.

"Yang! I'm gonna be busy with the tank! You need to keep us covered from those guys!" Ruby roared out as she opened fire on the backside of the Wraith. The shots did little but get its attention, as it slowly swiveled in their direction. It revealed to have a gunner of its own that opened fire just the same, narrowly missing the exposed Spartan on the back of the Warthog. Now completely locked on their LRV, the two APCs drove past the Wraith unabated, smashing into the occasional Grunt or Jackal that was unlucky enough to cross their path.

As Yang began picking off what remaining Covenant she could with her pistol or shotgun, the sniper readjusted to focus on the Elite rapidly firing plasma from the front of the purple vehicle. A moment of tracing and readjusting her aim across the turret seat was all she needed to reduce the large alien into a large limp figure. The small victory was short-lived however as the Wraith diligently tracking their movement finally opened fire on them with its main cannon.

"Weiss!" Ruby cried, as she saw the ball of hot plasma sailing right where they were headed.

The ODST at the wheel caught a glimpse of what the warning was for from her side view mirror and her eyes shot open in terror.

As the plasma touched down, it created a fiery explosion that engulfed the front of the Warthog and the world was turned upside down for the three women. The vehicle flipped end over end until it was brought to rest on its side 30 feet from the initial impact. The hood was badly damaged on the surface, crumpled up and smoking. And the turret on the back had found itself in pieces, no longer useable.

"-Up! Ruby, get up right now!" The crimson and black Spartan jolted awake from the crash, hearing her A.I.s voice ringing anxiously in her head.

"Crap!" Ruby reached for her sniper rifle only to feel her own back. She quickly surmised that it was lost in the crash and got up to her hands and knees. "Yang?! Weiss?!" She called out as her eyes finished adjusting to the new surroundings.

"Over here!" A familiar voice answered.

The Spartan turned her head to the sound and was greeted with the sight of the smashed up LRV and two ODSTs still strapped inside. Ruby quickly scrambled over to check on them, and aside from some major bruising and sharp pains, Weiss was alright. She ripped the seat belt from the trooper and helped her out of the seat, putting her against the overturned vehicle. As the redhead turned back to help her sister out next, an ominous hum caught her ears and she peaked out from the side of the Warthog. The Wraith was steadily drawing closer to their position, unaware if any survived the near-direct hit, thanks to Weiss' quick jerk of the wheel.

"C'mon, Yang! We need to move!" Ruby called to her sister as she gave the safety harness the same treatment as Weiss'. There was however no response as the blonde fell to the ground the instant the harness was removed, her helmet tumbling as it was jostled loose from the impact. The younger sister called again in a quieter, more serious tone, but again received nothing.

"Ms. Rose. I would strongly advise that we move away from here before that Wraith decides to open fire again." Glynda interjected, trying her best to get the Spartan to focus on the task at hand.

"I-I can't! Yang can't move like this…" Ruby then looked over to Weiss who was cradling her side. "…Weiss. Weiss I need you to help Yang."

"W-…What? How?" While Weiss didn't have any serious open wounds from the crash, a mild concussion could be the cause behind the dizziness she felt.

"I'll deal with the Wraith. You see to Yang and try to get her back on her feet, ok?" A humorous breath left Ruby as she glanced to see a shaky thumbs up from the Lieutenant before getting ready to draw out the Wraith.

Weiss was slow to follow suit to begin checking on Yang as the humming of the massive vehicle's gravity projector began to make itself known. The usually golden locks of Yang were tinged red at the corner of her forehead, stuck to the small wound that was trying to clot. Hazy, but studious azure tracked all across the rest of her comrade's body to make sure this was the worst of it. "C'mon, Yang. A little head bump should be nothing to you at this point…" Weiss whispered earnestly to her, but still received nothing from the statuesque form of Yang.

The humming grew to a dooming roar as the tank grew ever closer, but still Ruby waited. Her take off had to be precise for this to work without backfiring and sending Weiss and her sister to a plasma fueled oblivion. With a harsh breath, Ruby bolted out from behind the tipped over LRV and began sprinting in an arc to strafe around the Wraith. Seeing this, the Sangheili pilot opened fire on the sudden appearance of a survivor, but just missed Ruby as she leapt into a tumble roll beside a run-over Grunt and spotted something on its person. Immediately, she was on her feet again and began to close the wide birth she left between herself and the tank that had begun to track her once more.

"Ruby, your window before he can fire again is closing!" Glynda's informative voice chimed in, sounding a bit worried for a computer program.

However, the red head gave no response besides the small strain of effort it took for her to leap at the tank, a small blue ball clutched in her right hand just as the Wraith sent another giant plasma blast right for her. She could feel the intense heat grazing past her shoulder as the shot narrowly missed, scorching the ground where she had previously jumped. With a thud, she came to kneel on top of the purple hovering craft and raised her arm above the control hatch.

A ferocious bellow befitting a Spartan intent on protecting her team was released as Ruby came down on the metallic frame again and again and again until it was torn asunder. Before pulling her arm away on the last swing, the angered sniper primed the grenade she had found on the unfortunate Unggoy in her hand and let it fall inside instantly adhering to the Elite within.

The tank erupted in purplish flames, snuffing out the alien's cries of agony, as well as engulfing Ruby, who didn't quite clear the blast radius in time. The red and black Spartan crashed into the dirt from the explosion and tumbled to a stop near the Warthog.

* * *

The world swam for Ruby as she had trouble keeping her eyes open and focused after the danger-close encounter, but Glynda's voice rang in to assist.

"Ruby! Stay with me, now! You're hurt. And I can't aid you if you pass out on me!"

Warning signs blared within her helmet and all Ruby could see was red as her visor flashed rapidly. "What's…mmhn…What's wro-…" Crimson painted the inside of her similarly lit visor as she wheezed horribly. A heaviness pulled at her from the belly as she tried to raise herself up. It wasn't like nervousness, or an upset stomach. It was a completely foreign feeling to the Spartan. So much so, that it got her attention and she glanced down to see red, black, and purple. The additional color didn't dawn on her immediately. The purple was strange, surely the cause of such a pained tugging sensation, but she wasn't used to seeing that much red on her armor…

Another spattering of red crossed Ruby's visor as she hacked up and began to shake from a coldness creeping in. She pulled herself up to her hands and knees and clenched her teeth in fortitude. "Ugh, shit…This is…easily the second most painful experience -…Geh!- I've dealt with…" The Spartan brought a hand to the shrapnel that found its home in her stomach and gripped it as tight as she could with what strength she could muster.

"Ruby, you could cause serious harm to your insides. Not to mention the blood loss! Think about this…!" Glynda's warning got the sniper's attention and she hesitated with her hands still clasping the jagged alien metal. "There has to be a smarter way…"

"I don't…Have a choice…! I have to… Mmgh… see her get out of this…" Tired of the constant flashing and beeping of her head gear, the young Spartan tore her helmet off, but once again fell forward onto her hands. A light thump followed her down and she glanced below at the source to see what it was.

Desperation being in the forefront of her mind, Ruby grabbed the object and activated it. With a flash of blue-white energy, the pilfered Sangheili sword came to life in her shaking hand. She then brought it to the shard in her stomach and began slicing through it. It wasn't a quick endeavor. To the wounded soldier, it felt like half an hour went by as she cut through something deeply embedded in her abdomen. It was a tough metal to cut through, being the outer hull of the Covenant's signature heavy assault craft, and that made for a painful experience as the foreign object shifted within her as she applied more and more pressure to hasten the process. Finally, after a slow process of excruciating self-harm, she gasped out in relief when the exposed half of the purple metal clanged against the ground below her.

Now out of breath and soaked in sweat, Ruby fell to her side, but with a sly smile. "That work for you -huh…- professor?"

"Very clever, Ms. Rose…" The eye roll was audible from the computer program. "…Though, I think what remains still poses as a serious detriment to your health. We need to…!" Heavy footsteps broke the pair's conversation as a white and black ODST hobbled over.

"Spartan! Oh, God. What happened?!"

Ruby's smile turned to a sincere one as she heard Weiss' concerned voice, but it was overcast by another distant, albeit louder sound. The two glanced in the direction of Fort Beacon just in time to see a transport vessel ascend and take off from the mountain.

"They… must have noticed the Wraith bombardment stop. We need to join the others before-…!" As if to finish Ruby's thoughts, a volley of green bolts of light tore through the sky above and met the ship, tearing it apart, setting it ablaze over the base and erasing the hopeful smile from her tired lips. Both Ruby's and Weiss' heads slowly followed the way the streaks of light came from only to be hit with dread and hopelessness.

It was another Wraith. Deep red in color, and with a different armament than the one previously. Twin cannons sat atop this behemoth, rapidly sending forth the same green bolts of volatile plasma that destroyed the helpless transport vessel. As the tank neared closer it became clear that it also wasn't alone. A force of maybe 80 alien soldiers accompanied it ranging from Sangheili, to the cannon fodder, Unggoy.

"H-Help me up, Weiss!" The Spartan extended an exhausted hand for the ODST to take.

Momentarily shaken by the fireball in the sky crashing down on the other side of the mountain and the even larger threat than before approaching, the Lieutenant was slow to understand Ruby's words. "R…Right!" Weiss clutched the hand and looped it around her shoulder to help distribute the weight of the surprisingly heavy young girl turned soldier.

"Are you going to be Ok?" The young officer's voice sounded like she already knew the answer with the way it was filled with worry.

"I don't want to think about that right now. Let's just get back to Yang and the jeep." Ruby's words did nothing to quell the worry in Weiss. They hadn't meant to. Both women knew of Ruby's sole focus in that moment.

They shuffled their way back to Yang and the Warthog only to find that the blonde still remained unconscious beside the wreckage, completely unaware of the danger that was closing in on the group.

Ruby collapsed in front of her sister and let go of her helmet as Weiss leaned a hand against the vehicle to think. The Spartan looked down at Yang, noticing the ODST's helmet on the ground beside her. With closed eyes, Yang wore an almost serene expression while unawake. It almost made the Spartan smile as she absentmindedly kept pressure on the area around the stub of purple metal in her stomach. Her other hand reached out hesitantly towards Yang's face, before she pulled back, seeing her own blood coating her fingers. They curled into a tight fist as she brought it to the ground in a rage born from unfairness. She was doing it again. She was going to cause her even more pain thanks to her carelessness.

Suddenly, a creak of metal forced the young Spartan's eyes up and she watched as Weiss tipped the Warthog back over onto its wheels with a strength attained by ODST augmentation. "C'mon! Get Yang back in before they reach us! We can at least get to Beacon!"

Ruby was at a loss for words as she stared blankly at the Lieutenant. What good would that do them to make it to the base? She thought to ask, but Weiss didn't wait for a response and went right for Yang. It reminded the crimsonette of when Yang was first injured by that Sangheili swordsman. Ruby had been too weak to carry her sister, so Weiss did it for her, wanting no objections.

A small smile finally adorned the Spartan as she watched the white haired woman struggle getting the larger blonde's legs to fit into the Warthog. "Here. Let me help this time…" Ruby's voice was quiet as she tucked Yang's exposed limbs into the passenger seat.

"Let's go Spartan!" Paying it little mind, Weiss dismissed the odd behavior of the ONI operative and made to get in the driver seat. She turned the key with apprehension and clenched eyes at the sound of a rough crank, but cheered after the engine began to sputter with life. Her celebrations was halted though, as she heard Ruby's strange, melancholic, voice once again.

"Thank you, Weiss… For always looking out for her…" The Lieutenant turned, aghast by the soft words coming from the formidable Spartan. The foreboding feeling she felt welling up inside became heightened when she witnessed the somber smile adorning the younger girl's face as she approached the driver's side. "…I couldn't be there for her for so long, so I'm glad she at least had you…"

"What…? W-We don't ha-…!" Weiss tried dismissing the strange ONI operative again, but her focus quickly fell to the helmet thrust into her hands.

"Get her out of here, Weiss. I'll deal with the Wraith. Just tell her that I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise." Ruby laid her hand atop Weiss' shoulder pleadingly as the older officer took in the Spartan's request.

"…Ruby…"

The response from Ghost squad's leader was hastily ignored as Ruby let go of her helmet once Weiss accepted it. "Glynda should go with you as well. She would be more useful by Ozpin's side once again and the Covenant absolutely can't get their hands on our A.I."

"I…Ah…I-I can help! You don't have to-…!" Words stumbled from Weiss' lips as she tried to argue back, but was stunned into silence.

"Just do this for me!" The crimson Spartan pleaded with a roar as she brought a hand to her heavily wounded stomach and her voice shifted to a sorrowful whisper. "Please…I haven't asked for much, have I? Just get Yang out of here. P-Promise me, Weiss…"

They stared into each other. Weiss, into Ruby's fatigued silver, and Ruby into the Lieutenant's visor that was now translucent with the setting of the sun. It seemed Weiss was beginning to come to the same realization that the Spartan already had. They were out of time. That Covenant Battleship could lose patience and open fire on the planet at any moment now. A well planned strike on the AA-Wraith together would take too long and also put them all in danger. While it was clear that Yang was Ruby's top priority, she needed someone to take Glynda back or risk the Covenant getting their hands on a lead to Earth.

"…You don't have to beg me to take care of Yang. There's nothing I won't do for my girls…" Weiss opened up, speaking nothing but the truth that Ruby could ascertain through the fierce blue behind that face shield.

With a quiet exhale and a nod, Ruby accepted the words with relief. "Thank you, Weiss…"

The ODST officer had to clear the lump building in her throat before she could speak after those words. "I think that you deserve far more gratitude than me, Sp-…Ruby… I don't think I can ever repay you for all the times you've saved our asses today. I'll do everything I can to make sure she's safe. You have my word as a 105th…" She brought her hand up in a crisp salute, honoring the valiant soldier before her. Younger, and yet braver than she had ever known.

Ruby returned it with a mustered smile, trying to fight back the pain that had started to bleed through her Spartan anatomy. "I know I can count on you to have her back…" She glanced at Yang from her own words and without realizing, her feet began to move on their own, directing her to the passenger seat.

The Spartan halted at her sister's side as she once again took in the calm demeanor of Yang's sleeping face. A smile graced Ruby's lips as she breathed in and thought of their brief childhood together with their family back in Patch. "…Dream of anything, I'll make it all come true… Everything you need, it's all I have for you…" Ruby began to pet Yang's wild mane of hair out of her eyes as she continued to sing softly. "…I'm forever, always by your side…Whenever you need a friend, I'm never far behind…" The smile never faded as her tears began to gather into drops that fell against Yang's face that now turned up into a calmed smile.

"Our father used to sing us that song every night before bed…He wrote it himself... He was actually a pretty popular singer back in Patch…I'm glad-… …-she still remembers it…"

The Spartan's choked words caught Weiss' ears and she glanced over to see the heartbreaking display of the two sisters. Ruby closed her eyes and leaned down to kiss her sister's radiant, golden hair for the last time. When she opened them again after a silent moment in Yang's company, gun metal grey focused like daggers towards the steadily approaching alien force. "It's time for you to go, Weiss. I'll get you all a clear exit off Remnant. You can count on it!"

"Ruby…!" The call snapped the focused Spartan away from her ire and towards Weiss, but it wasn't the white haired trooper that spoke. "…Ozpin's not going to like this…" Glynda's voice normally filled with authoritative energy now sounded almost pleading in tone. She had remained silent through this entire conversation until now, not because she didn't care for Ruby, her charge. It was the opposite, in fact. She had devoted that precious time instead on trying to find another possible outcome that ensured everyone's survival. "…I don't like this either…" In her sorrowful voice it was clear that the A.I. could find no such solution. "I want you to know that Ozpin loved you like his very own daughter."

Ruby quickly turned away to hide her face from the artificial being as a whimper threatened to spill over. She decided to focus on the pain in her lower belly, as physical pain was much easier to suppress, having been exposed to it for most of her life. "Thank you…" A ghost of a whisper was all she could muster without letting the dam break.

With that as her que, Weiss shifted the Warthog into drive. "Give 'em hell… Spartan…" The heavy words left the Schnee as she punched the gas and left the crimson stained soldier to face down an army alone.

The stubbornness of the Lieutenant left an out of place smile on Ruby's face as she listened to the Warthog steadily distance itself from her. Heavy panting began to give way to a calmer breath as she finally felt freed from the anxiousness holding her back. _'Weiss will be there for her…'_

* * *

The Shipmaster of the Corvette watched the Plateau grow larger from inside the AA-Wraith as they approached and noticed the wreckage of the previous Covenant force. "Slow down…" He ordered from the pilot seat and his forces obeyed, their march slowed to a crawl as he took in the foreboding sight.

"What would have caused this…?" A fellow Elite voiced his thoughts as he pondered across the destruction of the previous Wraith, to the tattered bodies of Grunts, Jackals, and Elites alike.

A distant puttering of a small engine caught the force's attention, directing them to the side of the mountain where they spotted a light human vehicle making its way up the cliff side trail.

The Shipmaster sneered at the notion that such a small vessel could cause such devastation to their forces. He scanned more of the area as they continued on slowly as instructed, before one of his Sangheili brothers on the right flank dropped to the ground, lifeless.

His forces were quick to jump into a defensive stance and search for a target, but that was made difficult as there was no sense of direction for predicting where the enemy was coming from. It was clear that the cause of death was ballistics, based on the splatter, but no noise was made nor was there a muzzle flash to catch the culprit.

"Fan out! Grunts first!" At their leader's call, the ground forces began to nudge the pudgy aliens forward, regardless of their unwillingness.

Yelps of nervousness left the short chimp-like creatures as they shuffled forwards in search of danger. Yet nothing revealed itself to them as they continued on for another 30 feet before another Elite dropped dead behind the Unggoy. This time though, there was a noise. A feint, distorted gun shot went off, but again it appeared directionless.

"Sniper! Take cover, now!" A Sangheili Officer of Gold-orange armor warned as he crouched behind a wrecked Ghost that was lost during the previous siege.

The Shipmaster's slit eyes narrowed as he heard the identity of their enemy. "Gunner, open fire on the surrounding area! They must be hiding nearby if we can hear the shots now."

Instantly the blue Elite atop the Wraith took a firm grip of the controls and released a volley of plasma across their forward flank, sailing just past the Unggoy now cowering down in fear of being treated like the cannon fodder they were. He peppered the half dead shrubbery that a sniper would likely use as cover before moving on to what little tall grass remained in the area.

Angered by the lack of results, the Elite in the Wraith ordered all troops to advance while he remained stationed with the turret still laying waste to the once beautiful plains of Sanus. "…It's only a matter of time…"

With the ground forces combing the area around her and the Wraith no longer moving, the silent Spartan began to switch to her next course of action. "Sorry, Crescent. It seems me finding you again was short lived…"

Ruby chewed on her lip after expressing her sympathies to her rifle. She had foolishly hoped for the commanding officer to show himself after encountering an unknown resistance, but since she could bank on that no longer, she would have to settle for the next most dangerous threat.

She took aim in her kneeled stance, one hand on her wounded side while her sniper rifle remained rested on the cover she was using to conceal her presence. The bright light from the plasma turret caste her target in an opaque white that nearly kept her from finding his head amidst the flashing. And yet it was due to the harsh intervals of light that she received a silhouette to find her mark. With one last pull of the trigger, the strobe light of plasma was halted along with the Sangheili's life that slumped against the hull of the tank.

For the third time, Ruby grimaced in pain from the recoil in her shoulder traveling down to her abdomen, but let out no whisper of discomfort as her years of training to suppress her emotions in high risk situations allowed her to remain undetected, even with enemies actively searching for her.

The silver eyed Spartan's blood had continued to pool outwards, only stifled slightly with the pressure she was constantly committing with her now sticky wet hand. Her breath was growing more difficult to keep under control with every quiet heave. Face pale, and lips chapped as she leaned against her perch atop the previous tank she destroyed. Yet still, the encroaching mortality this situation presented her with never had the young Spartan faltering. Her training as humanity's greatest defense against the Covenant threat had indeed prepared her for many hardships such as this. But that wasn't what drove her here and now. In the face of insurmountable odds. Training was not what made her stay behind. There were no orders from command telling her to lay down her life on the planet she was born. She wasn't doing this out of some honor bound promise to Weiss' now deceased father or to protect the man she had come to love and respect in a similar way as her own. It was in this moment that she had realized it wasn't just to save her sister Yang, either.

Ruby wanted to do all of these things. A hopeless smile spread across her face as she understood just how selfish she had become. It was an impossible, foolish goal to protect everyone and she knew this, but that didn't stop her from trying. She had already lost one family in arms, and even if it cost her everything she had, she would never accept it happening again.

The smile turned into a concentrating grimace as Ruby pulled back out of her scope to see the army beginning to near her position. Grunts led at the front of the searching force, and while that fit perfectly into her off-the-cuff plan, the AA-Wraith remained well over 100 feet away by her estimation. This left her goal behind waves and waves of enemies all carrying enough firepower to take her down 100 times over, not to mention the giant twin cannons affixed to her target also proving difficult to get by. And since the Wraith still remained motionless, she had to assume the pilot wasn't going to be as careless as she liked. No, she had to come to him.

Taking a deep breath that made the Spartan shiver as it shifted her remaining ribs against the intrusive metal uncomfortably, she looked down at her hands and began to test her acceleration. The effect was there, as she could see her hands reacting to the power within, but she had to let it go when her heart rate increased to match the abnormal speed.

Ruby cursed silently as her best course of action was now lost to her. She knew she would never make it to the Wraith before her heart gave out on her. But as she tried to think of another way to reach the giant hovering vehicle, a shriek of surprise broke her from her scheming and she felt a hot bolt of plasma strike the back of her armor. While it harmlessly sizzled away against her shields, it still tore her attention towards the source to find a frightened Grunt that had managed to spot her crouched against the shredded blue Wraith.

Unamused with her cover being blown, the Spartan sniper jumped down to silence the Grunt before it could cause any more ruckus. While it was a quick endeavor to snap the small creature's neck, it proved ineffective as she could hear the forces around her begin to catch on from the initial yelp of fright, stomping ever closer with calls of warnings from a different language.

"Unbelievable…" Ruby grunted, but just as she was about to toss the small corpse away, she glanced down at what the creature was holding. "…That could work…" A smirk graced her lips as she relieved the stubby alien of his primary weapon. And instead of waiting for them to come to her, she instead hopped over what remained of the Wraith's right wing and pushed herself into a full sprint straight towards the Shipmaster.

The Covenant forces were quick to open fire on the red and black Spartan, but with her running at top speed, Ruby appeared almost as a blur even without her acceleration. Which was why she was surprised when an Elite was either perceptive enough or lucky enough to land a plasma grenade right beside her and send her tumbling with a flash of light. She rolled onto her side again and again before managing to push herself upright with a hiss of exertion and pain. Ruby could feel the mild plasma burns the explosive left against her thigh as she began to once again make a dash for the enemy vehicle. It was difficult to ignore the gut wrenching pain each step had been causing with the alien metal jerking within her stomach, but the adrenaline narrowed her thoughts onto only her goal. This unfortunately meant the glaring sign that her shields were now breached also went unchecked.

"That's far enough, Demon…" The Shipmaster of the _Veil of Credence_ spat as he took aim at this thorn in the Covenant's side. His reptilian like eyes went wide with incredulity however, as the red haired human hefted up a now charged plasma pistol and released it forth. While he did try, the size of the Covenant tank did him no favors in attempting to avoid the green ball of energy sailing towards his most important weapon. As it struck, the discharge spread across the vehicle's surface with an electrical pulse, rendering it inoperable as it crashed the few feet it hovered above the ground.

With the main threat now unable to fight back or move, Ruby pushed herself harder. Sweat soaked strands of crimson tinged hair stuck to her face as she heaved for more oxygen to power her fatigued muscles. Her goal was just within reach as she relinquished the alien pistol. All obstacles were cleared in front of her, now. Behind her though, the enemy never ceased.

The sting was a minor irritation for the split second Ruby felt them pierce her back, but the explosion the thin pink needles released upon gathering closely between her shoulder blades was all that registered in her mind as it carried her forward with a violent crash against the top of the Wraith.

She couldn't breathe. That was the first thing that registered in her panicked, pain stricken mind. Had the explosion ruptured her lungs? Ruby tried not to focus on the morbid question plaguing her mind.

She couldn't move. It was all she could do to lift a finger, watching it slowly twitch in front of her blurring view. She poured all of her thought onto that point, watching the armored digit move up and down with all her effort, until she gagged and spattered a thick gob of crimson saliva across the hull of the Wraith. She shook and shrank in on herself as her airway was once again opened up and she swallowed down all that she could with mighty breaths.

With all the strength she could gather, Ruby clawed against the smooth surface of the tank and slowly began to push herself up. She had never felt so weak in her life, and it showed as the Covenant forces now amassed around her watched her struggle, sure of their victory against this feeble Demon.

The shipmaster's eyes narrowed into a devilish grin as the last obstacle in his way was squelched before him. It was then, as if on que, that a transmission was received through the wraith's comms.

" _Veil of Credence_ , report! What is your location?!"

A distinct and familiar humming then soared in from above the Covenant army to signal the approach of a fleet of Phantom dropships.

Smirking, the proud Elite activated his transmitter and answered. "This is the _Veil of Credence_. We are in pursuit of the artifact most likely taken in by the last remaining human stronghold in the area. I shall have it shortly!"

"Those were not your orders! You were to standby and await reinforcements!"

High on his most recent victory over the demon, his arrogance presented itself in his tone. "I have no such need…" Before the voice on the other end could reply, he cut the transmission off only to once again watch the broken body before him continue to struggle.

Ruby managed to get up onto her elbows and crawl forward some before she collapsed back down against the top of the bloodied hovering tank. Every part of her cried against her to stop, but with gnashed teeth, she began to pick herself up again. Making it to her hands and knees above the pilot hatch, she looked down through hazy eyes as her remaining life's blood pooled underneath her to collect along the seams of the port hole.

A numbness began to take over, as her shaking body was beginning to lose all of its strength. Not even the chill that she had started to grow accustomed to since the first Wraith explosion could be felt now. It was strangely freeing to the young Spartan. After going through so much intensive training and hardships, to feel nothing at the end of it all… was exhilarating.

Sucking in a massive breath, she leaned back to look up at the sky. It was approaching dusk at this point, so the bright blues of earlier gave way to deeper oranges and purples as the Sun sank beyond the horizon. The warm, comforting colors washed over Ruby as she took in the tiny beads of starlight beginning to make themselves visible once again.

Tears began to form at the corners of her silver eyes. She wished she could have seen more. Been with her sister for longer. Ruby felt so cheated. Her life had been nothing but heartache and strife ever since that car crash. But that was where she drew the last wisps of strength remaining in her soul. If her last breaths could give Yang and her friends a chance at happiness where there were none for herself, then there was no question of what she was going to do next.

Armored fists shook with zealous fury as Sierra: B Two-Eight-Zero gave out one last earth shattering cry for the lives she hoped she saved at the cost of her own. And before a single Covenant alien could react in time to stop her, Ruby drew the energy sword she stole, activated it, and began to drive it downwards.

In a hail of searing lights, the sniper was littered with plasma from the forces intent on stopping her last ditch effort. There was so much fire concentrated against Ruby that it concealed her entire presence from the Covenant army as they laid into her until their weapons were spent.

As the smoke cleared, the black and crimson Spartan knelt there, now singed into a charred black husk, unmoving. The entirety of the humanoid remains were visibly pock marked with plasma burns. From her unshielded face, all the way to her boot clad feet. All except her left hand buried deep within the Wraith's pilot hatch, now crumpled under the force of Ruby's last blow.

"…Im…possible…" A sickening rasp left the Shipmaster as his eyes became consumed by the image of the energy sword piercing both the thick armor of the AA-Wraith and his flesh. His eyes began to turn murky as he glanced through the battered hole made by his enemy. Her face was shadowed and blackened from the onslaught of his troops, betraying no emotion she may have donned in her final moments. It was a haunting sight, consumed in fire, yet unwilling to quit just to destroy a single enemy. "…A monster…A…" The life faded from his eyes before the Sangheili finished, yet his milky orbs remained on the Spartan's black, emotionless visage.

They both were then consumed in purplish flames, as the sword Ruby wielded reached further than just the pilot seat. She had managed to cut into the vessel's core, destabilizing it and rendering it volatile. As soon as it was exposed to air, the entire Wraith went up in a ball of colorful fire starting from the inside.

The remaining Covenant forces shielded their eyes from the intense flames and scattered before the inferno erupted, sending the ones caught within flying alongside the burning debris.


	11. Ashes of Eden

Chapter 11: Ashes of Eden

Yang gasped as she came to consciousness. Her skull felt split in two and as she clutched it she winced in pain as she felt a bit of wetness there. "Grgh…Fuck, my head hurts!" The blonde ODST let out a sharp hiss as she put a little pressure on the area of dampness and then brought her hand down to inspect it. The fingertips of her black glove were wet with scarlet.

"…Shit! How bad is it?" Yang asked with fatigue in her voice. Before she took in the figure of her squad leader. Weiss was staring straight ahead, seemingly concentrating on the road ahead of them, but the rigidness in her shoulders caught the CQB specialist's attention. "Weiss…?"

Her only answer was an iron grip on the steering wheel and the roar of the engine as the officer pushed the machine harder.

"Weiss? What's going on? You're freaking me out!" Yang grabbed Weiss' shoulder as panic began to influence her. For Weiss to act this way, she knew something was seriously wrong and needed to know.

Weiss however, shrugged the hand off and continued to ignore her. Her breathing gave her away though, heavy panting audible even through her helmet.

Fed up with her squad leader's inability to come out and say it, Yang turned to her sister for answers, only to stare mouth agape at the empty flatbed behind them. There was nothing but the bent stem the chain turret was attached to remaining and her heart stopped for two beats before glaring back at Weiss in the driver seat. "Where is Ruby, dammit?!"

"We can't turn back, Yang!"

It was a desperate plea from Weiss, but Yang felt nothing but contempt for her officer as realization dawned on the blonde. "Like hell…!" Yang made her way to jump out of the speeding LRV and Weiss slammed on the breaks in fear of the ODST without a helmet hurting herself further. She reached out to stop her confused and angry friend only to get a hard elbow to the face shield.

Leaping out of the passenger seat, the Sergeant stumbled to a stop as she reached the edge of the spiraling mountain trail. Yang gazed down at the sound of fighting and bore witness to an army of Covenant along with a new AA-Wraith that wasn't there before all focusing on one point. It was far away, but with how fast the single adversary of the alien's was moving, she knew it was her sister that was taking them on. "We have to help her!"

Weiss had completely stopped the Warthog and jumped out after her fellow ODST before she gave her argument. "There's nothing we can do, Yang! Your sister stayed behind so that we could make it off Remnant before that battlecruiser glasses the planet! There's no time!"

The frantic sister payed her excuses no mind however, and searched below for a quick way to Ruby's side. The cliffs were mostly smooth, offering very little in hand and footholds if she thought of scaling back down. Simply jumping down entered her mind, but with her injuries, that would most likely only result in her hurting herself or worse if she didn't land correctly.

There was a brief pause in the plasma fire below. The implications tore at Yang's imagination and her focus shot back to the source just as she witnessed her younger sister swallowed up by the mass of alien creatures. It was too far to see what had happened, but just as she was assuming the worst, a scream broke through the chilling silence from atop the red Wraith. A furious scream. A proud scream. A Spartan's scream.

For a whispering moment, relief washed over Yang as she had caught sight of her sister's armor on top of the tank, but as the army surrounding her laid in with all they had, consuming her very presence with smoke and fire, horror painted her visage as the very spot Ruby was erupted in a plum of blue-purple flames from the exploding Covenant vehicle.

Yang's body lurched forward to try and stop what had already happened. A scream of denial clawed at the inside of her throat as her worst fears were realized, but it never came. It just built up in her esophagus. A heavy lump of regret and sorrow that let no air come or leave as she stood frozen on that cliff side.

So caught up in the horror playing in slow-motion below her, Yang nearly fell off the cliff in her moment of brokenness, but Weiss reached for her just in time.

Wrapping her arms around the blonde's waist, the young officer pulled her squad mate from the abyss and they fell down in a heap. She squeezed Yang against herself as she could feel the shakes of grief travel through the isolated sibling. "Yang…Yang, listen to me!" Weiss tried, but as her friend lashed out wildly within her arms, it was made clear that there was no consoling her right now. All she could do was keep Yang from hurting herself as she took several elbows to the face and mid-section in an effort to be freed.

While the Lieutenant grimaced through the pain, Yang called to be released. To go find Ruby in a futile attempt to prove that her mind had only played tricks on her. She desperately wanted to believe that there was no way she could have made out Ruby's figure through all that smoke before the Wraith exploded. It was impossible. All of it, impossible.

"No! I can't! Not anymore! I'm tired of losing people! My father… Ruby…W-We nearly lost Blake…" Weiss' voice nearly died out as she remembered her marred sister-in-arms. "…I can't…I can't stand the thought of losing you too…"

Yang calmed down in her grip, but said nothing as Weiss kept her helmet firmly planted against the middle of the blonde's back. "It hurts…For you to just suddenly not be there anymore…I would have no one to argue with anymore…" A short half chuckle left the officer's lips as she recalled every harsh word and deep glare that they shared since knowing each other. "…No one to challenge me like you do…" Every fight they had, she felt like they both grew stronger for it. Fiery Yang needing someone to guide her and keep her out of trouble, and ice princess Weiss requiring someone unafraid to call her out if she was making a poor choice. "…I need you with me Yang. I need your strength. So I don't care how many times you want to hit me, I'm not letting you go just to get yourself killed!"

Weiss flinched when she felt something touch her forearm wrapped around Yang's right side. It was a hand delivering a gentle squeeze. Comforting, and effortlessly soothing to Weiss, just like the blonde's aura always was to the team.

"…I need you too…" Yang's voice was rough and hollow, only accenting the helplessness as her grip got tighter on Weiss' arm. She had only just realized how lost she let herself become as she sat in Weiss' hold at the edge of that cliff.

While Weiss might have thought that Yang was the team's rock holding them all together in tough times, Yang felt differently. The three of them had only made it this far in their line of work because of their squad leader. The blonde often got too emotional and acted on instinct, while Weiss stayed level headed and thought things through on previous missions when patience was key.

The white haired officer pressed herself against Yang again, happy to hear her dependence once more. She didn't know why, but she felt lighter, more at ease, every time the taller ODST spoke of her reliance. She craved the acceptance, the trust. Especially so after feeling like she had let them all down back at the ONI facility. "Well. I'm here, Yang. Right beside you. And I always will be." Ruby's song must have been on the back of her mind since she heard it, because she wasn't the only one that found the similarities between her words and the lyrics.

"…Thank you…" Yang mumbled, holding back the tears. The dam didn't hold long however, as she quickly turned around and fell into Weiss' chest. She heaved out the denseness burdening her heart, only giving in further as her Lieutenant completed the hug and pulled her blonde head against her shoulder.

"You can thank me when we're safe and off Remnant. I'm sorry to ask, but can you walk to the warthog?" Weiss' voice was soft and endearing, a tone she seldom used even with her comrades.

Yang gave a furtive glance over her shoulder and to the edge of the cliff side, but paused longer than she meant as she thought of Ruby. Brushing the final tears away from her reddened lilac orbs, she turned back to Weiss with a single, shaky nod.

Even with her belief in the blonde's words, the overbearing Lieutenant still took Yang's arm around her shoulder to help her to the damaged vehicle and into her seat. As Weiss took hers, the transition caused the unnoticed bruising in her sides to flare up and she let out a pained hiss.

Yang looked over as the woman clutched at her ribs and she reached out with concern. "Weiss…?"

"I-It's nothing…"

Yang's eyes lowered in guilt as she understood the problem and took her hand back to her lap. "I'm sorry…"

"Don't be. I suppose it's about time you got some hits in on me. I was starting to feel like a bully during sparing…" The ODST officer's voice had an edge of melancholy, but the smile made her intentions at a joke clear.

The results were less than desired, but still the blonde showed a hint of a smile. Even if her eyes, lost against the dashboard, stayed bloodshot and on the verge of tears. Again, she looked back towards the cliff. An action that did not go unnoticed.

"Hey. Look at me…" Weiss called. And slowly, she received Yang's attention, any trace of a smile now gone. "You're not leaving her behind. We'll carry her with us. On every Op. Every fire-fight, she'll be there to bail us out when we inevitably bite off more than we can chew…" That finally placed an upward curve upon Yang's lips. A gentle laugh left Weiss as well, before she sobered up with her next thought. "…Spartan's never die, right?"

Yang snapped her head towards the Lieutenant's words, remembering the accursed motto of the UNSC. She continued staring into the side of her officer's helmet while Weiss finally put the LRV in drive and began the trek to Fort Beacon once again.

It didn't uplift her or anger her to hear those words like she might have thought. Yang just felt… Less strained. Almost at peace. Almost. The pain of fresh loss still raged within her heart like a dark storm, but she could feel a break coming at least. Thanks to Weiss saving her from herself.

* * *

While the trip remaining wasn't very far, the thoughts still running in both their minds made the 5 minute travel time stretch on forever. The silence didn't do anything in the ways of helping Yang occupy herself from her grief, and Weiss only continued to worry about her squad mate's mental wellbeing as she glanced towards her several times throughout the ride.

As all things do though, their time in silence was finally lifted as Weiss spoke, gratefully. "We're here!"

Yang's lilac snapped up and ahead of them at her call and as they came to the final bend in the trail, she caught sight of the massive black metal gate leading into Fort Beacon. Nostalgia surfaced within the blonde's mind at the visual. It had been a few years since their time here at Beacon. The place they had called home during her and Blake's ODST training. Before Weiss had selected them for her "special squad".

The reminiscence wasn't allowed for very long though, as Weiss spoke to nobody present. "Glynda, can you tell them to let us in?"

Suddenly, a light flickered above Ruby's recon helmet placed on the gun platform behind them and the familiar purple woman appeared from it. Through all the events and being knocked unconscious, Yang had completely forgotten about the A.I. traveling with them and the close proximity had her nearly jumping in her seat.

"I'll see what I can do…" The program then promptly vanished as they waited outside the towering front gate.

"I wonder if Blake's up yet." Yang thought aloud, staring past the windshield that had been cracked in the shape of a crow's foot from the tumble that rendered her unconscious.

The words drew the officer's attention, and Weiss smiled thoughtfully. "We'll see soon enough. I'm sure she's just wondering where we are…"

Loudly, metal began to grind against metal from within the wall as something was shifted into place. The thick jet black gate then began to raise up, giving access to the two ODST. A pair of marines each shouldering a MA5C assault rifle were there to greet them, waving them forward hastily, clearly not wanting to leave the gate open for any number of seconds.

"I checked for Ozpin's location as well. Everyone's already at the hangars waiting for a sign that it's safe to disembark." Glynda informed, as she apparated once again next to Weiss.

"Great…" Her voice should have sounded thankful, but there was a dread from Weiss with the new information. Maybe Glynda didn't pick up on it, or perhaps she simply chose to ignore the tone. Regardless the A.I. said nothing more as they were directed towards the hangars and the rest of their charge.

The fort was, in a word, chaotic as the sparse soldiers still in good health dashed back and forth to aid in what little they could. Barracks, motor pools, and several other structures had been hit by the previous Wraith bombardments, rendering most of the base's functions in disrepair.

"Oh, no…" Yang breathed, having no choice but to look at the destruction wrought across a place that had been her home for a defining number of years in her life. Her gaze then shifted forward as they kept moving at a steady, brisk pace towards their destination, and the black, ashen marks from the bombardments were foreboding as they stretched on with no end in sight.

Craters littered the air strips and the same Wraith fire that caused it had also torn into the overhead ceilings of the hangars like paper mache. Not a single hangar they drove by was untouched. Even as they slowed down towards the end of the runway, pockmarks desecrated the ground around them. It wasn't until they stopped at the last damaged building that a sense of relief washed over them.

Rushed movement made itself known at the front of the structure, and the hangar doors began sliding open to show within their ticket off their periled home.

"I'm sure she's a beautiful sight despite the rough shape she's in!" A deep, boisterous voice called to them as they approached the hangar door. Walking stoutly out from the air bay along with the massive ship it housed was an overweight man in an officer's uniform. He was on the short side and his hair was neutral grey, including the thick mustache covering his mouth. "Well, I'll be! I just knew I would be seeing you two again after seeing Sergeant Belladonna!"

The two ODST would have cringed at seeing the familiar Colonel of the UNSC Defense Force, but hearing the mention of their sister-in-arms in such a happy tone gave them immense hope for her health.

"Lieutenant Colonel, you saw Blake?! Is she awake?! How's her eye?!" Yang belted off questions as she hopped out of the passenger seat, and began hobbling her way to the man.

"Woah! Gunnery Sergeant, calm down. Your squad member is alive, but still unconscious last time I checked. And it's just Colonel now. Colonel Port! Ha ha!"

Weiss wanted to roll her eyes that this buffoon had moved up a rank, but held it in as she stopped the Warthog and followed after Yang, giving a cursory glance to the shadowing vessel that would see them off Remnant.

By the look of it, it appeared functional as it rolled onto the tarmac, but she couldn't help but focus on the sparse, but significant blackened marks against its surface.

"Right…And you're sure this ship is space travel ready…?"

The Colonel's eyebrow arched at the question from the Lieutenant, but soon understood as he glanced up at the dark marks across the ship's side. "Ah! Not to fear! Those are but scratches! And it's not like you have any other choice in the matter. She's the only transport ship that survived thanks to being stored away for being unused! Imagine that!"

"I feel…So safe…" Weiss muttered, not expecting anyone to pick it up, but was surprised when Yang shot her a mirthful glance. She did her best to ignore it, and it definitely helped to still have her helmet on, as she hadn't looked away from their superior.

"Did you say something, Lieutenant?"

With wide eyes, the white haired officer shook her head. "No, sir!" On complete instinct, her hand snapped up in a strong salute, and Yang did the same. "It was good to see you again, Colonel. I imagine you'll be coming with us…"

"Likewise. But I'm afraid not, Lieutenant. I understand that I must inspire all soldiers that trained under my leadership, however it's also because of this that I feel I must stay. My men need me here to hold off the impending forces from that battlecruiser. And this vessel can't take the entire base with you. So I'm staying put to fight the good fight while civilians and those that are injured get to live another day."

The two troopers always had a hard time taking this man seriously ever since their first days at Beacon. And while he had courageous, heroic tales of his exploits against the insurrectionists and Covenant army, he also made them sound so farfetched that he had come off as a hack with an over-inflated ego. It woke them up to his sincerity to finally see him in the field putting his money where his mouth was.

"Give them hell, sir!" Weiss roared.

"Indeed! Ha Ho!" Colonel Port cocked his arm and motioned it across his gut in excitement. A gesture they had seen him perform multiple times during their training. The next moment however, was not expected as the merriment seemed to vanish from the surrounding area just as his mustachioed smile did. With a caring, serious tone, the portly officer grabbed both of their shoulders, looking at each of them very closely, before beginning to speak. "Now I want you to take care of yourselves, and each other. I feel like this war is coming to a close, but it's not over yet! And we'll need soldiers like you to keep pressing forward if we're to be the ones to come out on top!"

Weiss and Yang looked at him quizzically, and for a brief instant, caught a glimpse of his tired eyes underneath his bushy eyebrows. It spoke of a soldier that was far passed his prime and was in need of retirement. He pulled away quickly though, and let them be after one last crisp salute that they returned in genuine honor.

As the proud man walked off towards another drivable LRV occupied by some of his men, the two ODSTs watched on with a heavy unease in their chests.

"I wanna go see Blake…" Yang finally spoke as she turned towards the ramp leading inside the ship. The way she strode up the steps made it quite clear that it wasn't a request.

Weiss gave an understanding smile to the back of the blonde's form as she followed. She knew Yang's worries wouldn't be put to rest until she saw her best friend alive and waiting on them.

* * *

The rows upon rows of worried civilian faces blurred by the two soldiers as they passed the main cabin and made their way to where they were they had been directed to once they boarded. The back of the ship had a larger space reserved for those of greater importance as well as a way down to the cargo bay a deck below that had been refurbished into a medical wing for all the injured the fort hospital staff could sustain during travel.

As Weiss and Yang approached the door to the private hold, it was flanked by two MPs who began to put up a hand at their hurried arrival. Recognition dawned for one of the young men however, as the completely shave man took in their unique ODST battle dress uniform.

"Are you Lieutenant Schnee and Gunnery Sergeant Xiao Long?"

"Yes." Weiss answered plainly, removing her helmet to show her face in proof. The other MP beside the first brought up a data pad to compare their faces with who was on the list, but Yang hadn't stopped her stride and shoved past them to slam the door open. "Yang…" The Schnee groaned as she sent an apologetic glance at the both of them against the wall, before following her squad mate already inside. In any other situation, she would have reprimanded the younger ODST, but knew she should have expected nothing less with all that had happened to them today.

"Where's Blake?!"

Weiss's focus shifted to the call of Yang's voice from inside and saw sitting down at a large work station was the head researcher of the underground ONI facility they discovered. Ozpin had already turned to the Sergeant upon her boisterous arrival, and calmly watched the pair stride over.

"She's in that room over there. Alive, but still out I'm afraid…" Ozpin gestured to a single door in the corner and then waved away the bruised and distraught MPs who had recovered from the previous hallway. Just as Yang began moving towards the next door however, he asked a question of his own. "…Tell me, where's Ruby…?"

It stopped the blonde soldier in her tracks, but after a moment of silence from her, Weiss decided to answer the man's question in a somber voice. "She… stayed behind, sir." Her blue eyes scanned the man's appearance for signs of recognition, but as he faced away, she picked up nothing except a frozen figure looking down between his hands on the table.

With a flicker, Glynda was beside the ONI scientist on the desk, whispering to him something Weiss was unable to make out.

"Understood…" The word from the man was low and emotionally undiscernible as he hunched forward and bridged his hands against his chin. "…I believe you have a friend to see…"

Yang gnashed her teeth together in outrage of the apparent lack of care for her sister's sacrifice, but just as she opened her mouth to let him have it, Weiss' hand was pulling hers in the direction of Blake with a look that said to let it be. With an aggravated sigh through her clenched jaw, she turned to let Weiss drag her away, still seething with contempt for the man that did this to her little sister in the first place.

As the two soldiers faded away into the next hall, Glynda turned her attention back to the man at the desk to see him flipping through his files. She knew the man well. He was always one to consume himself in his work, day in and day out. The A.I. usually had to force him to get some sleep when he had gone without for 30 plus hours. She also knew him to be a rather fast reader. So when he had yet to turn a page over since the first when she appeared beside him, the purple hologram could feel something was off.

Scanning the page thoroughly, Glynda quickly picked up that it was Ruby's candidacy file for his project.

"Not in a million years did I think she would be the one to survive the induction…She just, seemed so small… Weak…" Ozpin hung his head as he stared through the stack of papers baring Ruby's name and face. Her height, weight, hair color, eye color, demeanor, physical capabilities, mental acuity, strengths, and weaknesses. All before and after the test that both ended and started her life.

"It drove me nearly mad trying to piece together, why her. It wasn't until we started the more extreme tests to find her limit that I discovered the answer… Hours and hours of pushing her to use her acceleration on obstacle courses and in training exercises, running her ragged to the point of collapse, only to watch her get back up…She didn't care. Not after I told her what it was all for…" Ozpin gripped his hands as he felt them beginning to shake. "She truly was our best chance to ending this war…"

Even if he couldn't really feel it, the ONI researcher soon regained control after Glynda laid a tentative purple hand against his shoulder.

"Was there truly no saving her…?" Harkening back to what Glynda had whispered, the man's words clawed at the computer program.

"No, sir. She was already mortally wounded after destroying the first Wraith. With how weak her heart must have been after excessive use of Acceleration within a single day, it was doubtful she would have recovered. She must have known that, and decided to save all that she could while she still could. She knew her limits better than anyone, as you well know." A hint of a smile crossed her lips, but was stolen away as he whispered back.

"Thank you, Glynda. I have always appreciated your company even on the most frustrating of days. But I think right now, I could use some time to myself, if you don't mind…?"

"…Of course, sir. I'll go check with the pilot. Take as long as you need." There was hesitance at first, but after hearing his tone, she knew not to argue on this, and instead, flickered out of the room a moment later.

With the silence his only companion, Ozpin stared back down at the side profile picture of Ruby after becoming a Spartan III. Her face was stoic and unafraid of the dangers that she would soon undertake.

The middle aged man had so many crosses to bare, being the man, the monster that he chose to be. Each one weighed heavily on his back, but nothing, not a one weighed as heavily as the sin he bared for putting a girl that he grew to love like his own daughter through every hardship she faced in her shortened life that he caused. Ozpin rested his forehead against the fist his hands made and clenched his eyes shut in grief. "I'm sorry…My tenacious rose…" Both guilt and grief stricken, the man fell into his quiet sobbing, not attached enough to the outside world to hear the sliding door to his right close shut.

* * *

"What, did you finally come to your senses?" Weiss pondered as she watched Yang pad back in her direction with a somber look donning her face.

"Huh-what? Oh…Yeah. He's not worth it. Let's go check on Blake." The blonde was a bit startled as if pulled from deep thought, but didn't wait for a response as she kept walking past Weiss towards the door at the end of the hallway.

With nothing but a quizzical expression, the Lieutenant followed after, but said nothing as they came to their destination.

As the door slid open, the two ODSTs lost in their own thoughts where pulled into the dim chamber and to the single sized bed supporting their unconscious team member. They smiled to each other and made their way over to Blake's side to check on her.

"She's looking better…" Yang admitted happily, noticing only the bandage over her right eye instead of the full head wrap. Looking down at the dark haired girl's arms also revealed that she didn't even require an IV anymore. A welcome sight to the troubled soldier.

Smiling at the news, Weiss turned around, pulling Yang towards the small couch against the wall adjacent to the bed. "When do you think she will wake?" She asked after the blonde accepted the notion that they should give their black haired friend some peace.

"Dunno, want to place a bet?" The cheekiness in Yang's voice came out along with a smile as she leaned back against the couch cushion next to Weiss, a soft yawn escaping her lips.

Weiss scoffed at the proposal and sank back into her seat as well, finding the moment to relax quite comfortable. "Only you could think of such a thing while a friend is in recovery…"

"Oh, come on! I'm just trying to find a way to pass the time. We haven't heard any word of when we're taking off…" Yang defended, her voice starting to slow as she found the quietness of the room far too comfortable for her tastes.

"It could take a while, but all we can do is w-…!" Weiss felt something fall and come to rest against her shoulder, and as she looked towards the source, found a head of gold. "Yang, what are y-…" The squad leader was about to nudge her CQC expert off, but thought for a moment. "huh, fine. I guess it has been a long day…" The Lieutenant admitted with a blush, as she was feeling drowsiness beginning to overtake her as well. The battle to keep her eyes open was a tough one, especially as she listened to Yang's quiet snoring right beside her. In but a few short moments her lids dropped as well, and unconsciousness began to take her just like Yang. Her last fleeting images were of the figure resting quietly on the bed and of a mane of blonde peeking into her peripheral. A smile stayed affixed to her resting visage.

* * *

Dreary purple eyes blinked open, adjusting to the light of the dull steel grey room. Yang had been looking down as she woke up, and noticed that she fell asleep in her armor. "…What…?" She mumbled out as the ODST pulled up from what she was leaning on, when suddenly a familiar head fell against her shoulder. Her hazy, tired eyes lit up in disbelief as she realized that she and Weiss had been sleeping against each other.

"Finally returned from your dreams come true?" A voice ahead of Yang chuckled sardonically.

Yang's head whipped from the sleeping visage of Weiss to the now awake figure on the bed. A million thoughts begin to churn within her mind, but before a single one could stammer its way out of her mouth, Blake shushed her and pointed back to their squad leader.

"Did something finally happen while I was out~…?" Blake whispered whimsically, getting a chuckle out of the back and forth motion as Yang began to piece together what this looked like. "I'm fucking with you, Geeze!"

With a groan of surrender, Yang dragged her palm down her own face and muttered something about not having this conversation again before addressing the now awake member of Ghost Squad. "Blake, how long have you been up? H-How long where you watching us?"

"Mmh, a bit…" Letting the humor die a little bit in favor of her curiosity, Blake took on her more natural guise of a neutral expression. "What's been going on? We still at the ONI base?"

"…" Yang opened her mouth, but nothing came out as the past few hours came to her mind. Blake hadn't been out for too long, but it felt like a lifetime of events had took place in that small window. Finally, she gave up and just decided to answer the easy question. "No…We made the trip to Fort Beacon to help the ONI staff find a way off Remnant. Which is where we are now, aboard the last space worthy vessel near Vale."

"You look like you didn't have an easy time of it…?" Blake noticed the dried clot of blood pasted to her forehead and some in her normally well-treated hair.

Putting some fingers to it, Yang winced and closed her left eye. "…Yeah. A few Wraiths gave us trouble…" A cold shiver passed through the blonde as she relived the destruction of the second Covenant tank. She tightly shut both eyes as the smoking image of her sister played out in her mind as if it was happening again.

"…Yang!"

At the call of her name, the ODST snapped her eyes open and looked to Blake who was staring at her incredulously. It wasn't until then that she felt fresh crimson running down her cheek. Her breathing had picked up as well, but she shrugged it off in favor of checking on if Weiss was still asleep. To her relief, she was. There was a small shift of silver hair, but the Lieutenant still remained silent against Yang's shoulder. "Huh…I'm sorry. I just, oh fuck…" Yang felt the bleeding from her head gash continue and tried reaching for some of the bandage wraps on the bedside table, but couldn't reach with Weiss against her arm.

"Here…" Blake, seeing the dilemma, threw her a roll with her eyes following suit. She rolled her eyes again as the brutish blonde just placed the whole bundle against the wound and held it there.

"Um, how's the eye…?" Yang asked as an awkward silence began to fill the room.

"Dunno, can't see it. How's the forehead…?" Blake returned sarcastically. Clearly asking a deeper question.

A lump began to grow in Yang's throat as she caught on. She knew Blake was always too clever to bullshit. "…Ruby's…"

The heartbreak was palpable in the blonde's words, and instantly, Blake was regretful. "Oh, God. Yang…I'm so sorry…"

"Nah…Don't be. You didn't know. How could you? It's ok! I just…" Yang tried smiling through the pain as she merely shrugged off her friend's sympathies, but it didn't work as she finally snapped. "…Fuck, Blake! It just feels like someone finally returned a piece of myself that was missing only to rip it from me the second I take it! And because of **this** …!" The blonde put more pressure on her wound, frustrated with her own powerlessness to stop her sister from giving up her life. "…I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye…!" The blood began to well up around her fingertips. And Yang, stricken with the emotion that comes with finally venting out your grief, crumbled into herself with a few words of regret. "…She had to be such a goddamn hero…"

"…She did though…"

"Weiss…?!" Yang nearly jumped out of her seat from the voice on her shoulder.

Weiss reared up and looked directly into Yang's crystalline amethyst with a stoic expression. "She had a chance to say goodbye, but instead she chose to sing you a song from your childhood. She told me it was your father's song."

As the words of Tai's song began to play in Yang's head, she slowly sank as far back against the couch as she could before hanging her head to keep her face out of sight.

"I think she wanted you to know that she would always be there beside you, just like we are right now…" The markswoman smiled at the blonde, hoping to convey that they were still together as a team even now.

It worked. As after Weiss finished, Yang finally caved, giving in to the desire to seek comfort in her squad. She fell over against Weiss, laying her head just under the Lieutenant's chin. She wasn't shedding a tear, but her eyes were clenched shut to suppress the urge.

The white haired woman was certainly surprised by the close proximity, but did her best to make it a more comfortable experience for the both of them. Carefully, Weiss put an arm around Yang, giving her shoulder a soft squeeze.

Soft azure met bright amber, as Weiss peered over at Blake from atop Yang's golden mane. The squad leader sensed the mirthfulness within those eyes and shrugged helplessly, doing her best not to upset Yang's positioning. The dark haired ODST just smiled a half smile at the two's display, letting it be for now.

Instead of the peaceful rest the team sorely required however, a purple blur apparated before solidifying into a small bespectacled woman, surprising them.

"Ghost Squad, I see Ms. Belladonna is back with us…That's good. However, I come with some… unsavory news. We'll be-…" Glynda tried announcing, but before she could finish her message to the team, the intercom to the ship overlapped her voice.

"Attention, citizens of Vale and staff of Fort Beacon. We'll be taking off now, so please find your seats and remain calm. Turbulence from leaving the atmosphere may be worse than normal…"

The group looked between themselves puzzled, before falling onto the small projection at the foot of Blake's bed.

"Sugarcoating it, I see…" Glynda mumbled to herself, uncaring if the others heard her before addressing their inquiries. "…While we do have a ship capable of spaceflight, as well as the jump to hyperspace, there is one…Massive. Roadblock ahead…"

The description instantly put Weiss into a state of a deer caught in the headlights. And just like that, the sinking feeling in her gut was back. "How are we going to make it past the Battlecruiser…?"

"Precisely, Ms. Schnee. We're not safe, yet. Our only option is to hope by some miracle that we're able to slip past the Covenant and make the jump before they tear us apart."

The helplessness beset Weiss as she looked down at her lap. After all they had been through to make it this far, it sickened her to realize that all their sacrifices might have been in vain. Her hands curled into fists against her legs at the horrible idea, but then another hand came into her view. One that grasped her left hand in a soothing hold. Looking up, the Lieutenant saw Yang. Yet she wasn't staring at Weiss, but at Glynda with a glare.

"We'll make it...Don't you worry!" Yang's hand then tightened around Weiss' protectively, almost to the point of pain, before she relaxed again without letting go.

The A.I. put on an amused smile as she adjusted her glasses and let out a sigh. It was ridiculous how closely the siblings resembled each other in attitude, she thought. Perhaps that stubbornness would once again save them all from certain death… "Of course not, Ms. Xiao Long. Not while we have you…"

Yang didn't know how to process the sincere tone from the purple hologram. She expected a bite-y, sarcastic remark, but if that was, it was impossibly too subtle. And it seemed Glynda had no intentions of elaborating either, as within the next moment, she blinked out of the room without so much as a farewell to the team.

Left in the quietness of the small, one bed cabin aboard the ship, the squad had trouble thinking of anything other than what was to come as the vessel finally took off from the airfield. It soared skyward, heading for the stratosphere, and hopefully, salvation rather than annihilation.

* * *

"It-It's too far, right?! There's no way it could hit us from here, is there?!" The co-pilot aboard the evacuation ship asked as her eyes were locked onto the ominous, unmoving purple behemoth orbiting the planet of Remnant.

"I would hope not…" The veteran, salt and pepper haired pilot prayed, before he was interrupted by the purple A.I. that was assisting them.

"We have a more immediate threat, you two!" Glynda informed, sensing multiple fighter sized ships coming straight for them.

As they got closer, the tear drop shape made it clear to the three of them what exactly it was pursuing them. And judging by the blue orbs pulsing to life from each of the fast moving shapes, they weren't there to help.

"Seraphs! Damn! They knew we were coming!" The co-pilot screamed, before helping to take evasive actions in the clunky, but still marginally fast civilian cargo ship.

The transport ship was rocked to and fro as it was lit up by the twin Seraphs harrying them. Lights began to flicker from inside the cockpit, and this made the pilot grit his teeth as another volley of plasma cannon fire hit them from above as he banked right. He knew they wouldn't hold up against this threat for much longer, as the civilian ship was never designed to withstand continuous hostile fire in any capacity. It was never outfitted for any sort of retaliation either, and this made him feel even more helpless as another hit was scored against their broadside, crippling one of their VTOL engines.

"Sir, what do we do?!" His co-pilot cried out as what remained of her functioning controls were blinking red.

Taking a deep breath, the grim faced man turned to her with an apology in his eyes. "It's been a g-…!"

An explosion shook against the cargo ship, but not from taking direct damage. Startled, the man turned towards the direction of the explosion to see one of the Seraphs break apart and scatter into the void.

"Looks like you could use some help!" A chipper, male voice broke through the static of their comms and in that moment spotted 2 more ships nearly twice as big as the Seraphs hounding them. These were sporting UNSC colors, however. And they weren't alone.

Three different, and very large signals reported behind them and within range of the Covenant Battlecruiser on their radar. And as the last Seraph was dealt with by the other GA-TL1 Longsword Interceptor that came to their aid, the veteran pilot circled around to get a look at what they were dealing with.

Fire consumed the side of the purple Battlecruiser as it was assailed by a volley of archer missiles from an even greater vessel and its two escort Light Frigates. Two successive blasts followed the barrage and punched through the shields of the once imminent threat, crippling its defenses and means of escape as it lulled into the orbit of the planet.

"I don't fucking believe it…" The co-pilot uttered as she watched the ship they were afraid of get torn apart by the even larger space craft. It was like a shark tearing into a tuna fish, scattering its remains here and there effortlessly. It was then that the two Longswords that saved the cargo ship flew overhead and passed them, headed for the massive vessel that now took the place of the decimated Covenant Battlecruiser.

"We're grateful for your help, son, but how did you get here so fast?" The pilot finally asked after coming to his senses.

A pleased chuckle came through from the same excitable voice as before. "Oh, you know! Right place, right time! Now, follow us! I promise there's no place safer!"

"Well, there's no reason to flee Remnant now…Might as well…" Glynda put forth, fixing her glasses against the bridge of her nose.

"Suppose you're right…" The pilot slowly agreed as he came to terms with such a rapid change of events. And with that, punched it in the direction of the hulking mass of Titanium-A battle plate that was their savior. Upon approach, the ship's name gleamed into view from the light of the sun reflecting off the painted metal. The _UNSC Steele Courage_.

* * *

Feeling the shakes of the attacks across the civilian transport he was on, Ozpin quickly got up from his seat at the desk and made his way to the door to find any that could tell him the status of their situation.

"Ozpin! Well isn't this a surprise!" A voice graciously called from the desk that the ONI scientist was previously sat in.

A holographic display blinked to life above the table as Ozpin turned around to see who was messaging him. The middle aged man had short, dark black hair with some silvering lines on the sides. His dark blue eyes spoke of relief and a bit of mirthful delight upon seeing Ozpin's own surprise.

"J-James…? What's going on?" Ozpin then noticed that since the call of the man's voice the rumblings had stopped entirely.

"I'm just as shocked as you are! We had been tracking that battlecruiser for weeks now thinking it was up to something being by itself. I was going to lie and wait so it didn't spot us, but when we discovered its intended coordinates…I'm glad we made it in time."

"But the Atlas initiative-…!" Ozpin tried rebutting before his confusion was answered further.

"Don't worry. This isn't getting in the way of our mission. We actually need time to settle on some leads before continuing our hunt for the Covenant's capital anyways. In the meantime, we're here to help. Rest easy, friend…" A smile graced the chiseled jaw of the General as he finished, putting Ozpin more at ease along with his words.

"That's good to hear…Both of us are looking for a way to end this war. It wouldn't do to get in the way of the other…" Relief came to the scientist, but a perplexed frown grew in place upon the General's next calculated words.

"…Ozpin. I know I've asked this of you in the past, but…Why don't you come with us? Your studies and research would no doubt prove useful to us, and we have plenty of resources to share aboard this ship for your own uses. Working with others never really suited you, I know, but time is growing ever shorter for humanity. You must see we're on the losing side of this war…If they were to ever find Earth…"

The silver haired man shifted in place at the words before he walked back and took a seat at the desk once more to contemplate this new opportunity. His research station had been compromised by the Covenant's ever growing boldness for the outer colonies, so staying in secret underneath Remnant was no longer within reason. And he had also just lost his prime research candidate, and as much as it hurt him to think, would need to find a suitable replacement. No, not a replacement. Just another like Ruby. Someone especially strong willed and determined to keep those around them safe even if it cost them their life…

Moments passed, before Ozpin put his hand together in his signature steeple and breathed out his reply. "You're right…We can't afford to let that happen…" A smile then formed behind his hands. "…You coming here when you did was nothing short of a miracle, James. I'm in your debt. And if this is how I can repay you, then…We'll try it your way…"

* * *

The walk towards the cargo ramp off the ship was a quiet one. Not unexpected, after all the three of them had just been through during a single day. Still, Ozpin felt just the same as the stealth team. Relief, confusion, worry. All emotions roiling around in each of their minds as the same question stayed unanswered for the three women. What was their next plan? Where would Ghost squad go now that the ship they were previously assigned to was no longer in one piece? Would this General be transferring them once again?

A sly smile lit up Ozpin's face once he reach the bottom of the loading ramp with his silver suitcase in hand, but a loud voice stopped the group in their tracks.

"Salutations!"

The voice was young and girlish. Not to mention directionless, just like when Glynda first spoke to the squad back at the underground facility. It was then that a bright green light flickered to life in front of Ozpin taking the shape of a cheery red haired girl in an off-white blouse and overalls.

"My name is Penny, and I'm here to lead you to General Ironwood, Mr. Ozpin! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

The team was startled to see such a young girl aboard a militaristic ship. The thought came to their minds that this was an A.I., but the natural skin tone of the young woman looked more like a holographic message being delivered than the usual coding that danced across an avatar's form.

"Greetings, Penny. You may lead the way then." Ozpin answered with a practiced smile while the rest were momentarily speechless.

With a smile of her own, the small red head blinked away and re-appeared at a terminal adjacent to a door leading out of the hangar. The following giddy wave, caused Yang's lip to twitch into the beginnings of a smile as she followed behind Ozpin first, with Weiss and Blake close behind.

Noticing the change in Yang's mood, the Lieutenant let out a small breath through her nose, feeling that boundless, warm energy already making a return in her CQC specialist. Weiss shoulder checked the blonde lightly, gaining her attention before flashing her a delicate knowing grin. "I get the feeling that she reminds you a lot of Ruby back when you were young…"

A passing statement like that caught Yang completely off guard, but while the smile may have been temporarily removed due to shock, it quickly came back as she glimpsed into the sincerity of Weiss' blue orbs. "…Y-Yeah. She does…Thanks, Weiss…"

The light retaliatory fist that soon met her shoulder plate had the white haired soldier looking away from Yang to hide the embarrassed smile as she mumbled a reply. "F-For what? I didn't do anything…" After a moment of no reply, Weiss slowly turned back towards Yang only to be met with very curious lilac. Quickly trying to save face, she brushed past the staring and sped up to get ahead of Yang in the group.

A somber smile spread across Yang's face as she watched Weiss start a hasty conversation with the ONI scientist away from her. "…Heh…It's such a bad idea…" Her hopeless shake of the head was then stopped short as a voice from the side made an entrance.

"It is, but that's never stopped you before…" Instead of the playful smile that Yang expected Blake to be wearing, her lips were perked up with joy from seeing her best friend focusing on less depressing matters.

"…That's true…But sometimes bad ideas can still turn out Ok with a little luck, right?"

Blake then watched as Yang began to walk a little taller after giving her reasoning. She was glad Yang had also begun to speed up, as the once joyful smile became a more cat-ish grin upon her face. She couldn't wait to see how that conversation turned out.

* * *

The giant metallic doors whirred open at the group's presence to reveal the observation deck of the massive Super Heavy Cruiser. The room was equally as massive, as dozens of operator stations, currently in use, flanked the side of the silver-grey walkway in a wedge facing towards the spacious glass window that stretched completely from one end of the room to the other and even below as the edge of the floor at the back of the room was also glass, allowing one to see more of Remnant underneath. And at the precipice of the window was a pair of officers in the middle of a conversation.

"That's unnecessary, Captain. The forces we just sent will be more than enough to deal with what's left on the surface…"

"It seems he's still busy talking with the captain. If you could wait just a-…" Penny's sweet voice was then halted by the one who was just speaking, but while the voice was masculine, it held a hint of mirth as he caught sight of the group entering his domain.

"It's alright, Penny. Let them in. I was just finishing with Captain Schnee anyways…"

Weiss' eyes widened like saucers at her last name and instantly looked in his direction to see who he was referring to. Like her eyes, her mouth grew wider just as well when azure met azure. She struggled to hold in the outburst waiting to happen. Conflicted with her manners in the presence of a superior officer and wanting to shout in unbridled relief at knowing her sister she hadn't been able to hear from in nearly two years was still alive and well.

"Weiss…" The single word betrayed no emotion from her older sister. Yet it was clear in the small flicker of her eyes that there was genuine surprise as she laid her sights on her younger sibling.

The other officer, now understood as the General aboard the ship judging by the stripes on his shoulders, glanced between the two only once before realizing the similarities. "It seems we've reunited a family, Ozpin. Is…She going to be a part of this…?"

The ODSTs looked quizzically between themselves before focusing on the pair of men in front of them.

"Well, that depends on them…" The ONI scientist then turned around with a familiar gentle smile.

"What are you two talking about?" Yang gave into her curiosity first, not having a clue on what they were discussing just like her friends.

"It seems, Sergeant, that you and your squad are without orders or a station to relay new ones. What we are talking about is a means to fix this." As Ironwood explained, Weiss looked to Winter for some form of confirmation.

Winter gazed into hopeful eyes of the same color before subtly guiding her sister's attention back to the General.

"This is by no means an order. The choice is yours. Either join my crew here on this ship, or I can message NAVCOM and have them transfer you to whatever ship they deem suitable."

After the man's words, Weiss had to bite her lip from instantly saying yes. To her, this was a golden opportunity to spend time with her older sister after having been separated since Winter first went off to boot camp 11 years ago. Yet, she wasn't speaking for just herself in the moment. The presence of two others were felt behind her as she thought about his deal. She didn't even have to glance at Yang to know those beautiful lilac eyes were brimming with encouragement for her to accept the deal so she could see her sister every day. And while neither of the Sergeant's said a word, the shuffling of their boots as they moved in by her sides was all the incentive she needed.

"Sir. It would be an honor, sir!" With a laser precise salute, Weiss answered, receiving one in return along with an understanding smile from the General.

"Very well, then. Penny? Why don't you escort these three to their new bunks?" The tall man gestured to the ODSTs before addressing them directly. "We'll talk later about your station here aboard my ship. Right now, I'm sure you could use a moment to catch your breath." After sending off the Ghost squad, the General then glanced down at Ozpin's side to see the silver briefcase clutched in his hand before looking back up to Winter. "Captain. I'll take Ozpin here to see his new workspace. I leave the helm to you for now."

"Sir!" The older Schnee didn't even question it before she answered. And he didn't look back as he escorted the ONI scientist away from there.

The walk out of the bridge was quiet, but not overtly tense between the two of them. James waited until they were alone in the elevator before asking Ozpin, one of his closest lifelong friends, a very personal question. "To think that the culmination of your life's work could be stored in a small briefcase like that…Is that really it?"

"This was all that was salvageable. The Zealots didn't stop with meager threats, and…Ruby didn't make it off Remnant…"

The General sensed the sorrow as the scientist's voice got as quiet as a mouse. "The only one that passed the bonding, right…? I'm sorry, Ozpin. But you managed it once. I'm sure you can work the same miracle again…"

The scientist's voice was still a whisper at a grave, but it wasn't fragile like one would expect. "I know I can…I have to. For her. For myself and all those that I've sacrificed…I…We. Have to put an end to this war, James. Before there's nothing left to protect…" A resonating click came from the scientist as he opened up the briefcase in front of himself. "And this…" From out of the briefcase, Ozpin presented a vial with a glowing red crystal that Ironwood could only describe as tangible fire. "Is my last chance at making a difference…"

* * *

The bunk door slid open on the squad's approach and they stepped in to be greeted by a familiar, uniform sight. Two bunkbeds. A small window out to the open expanse of space. And a desk.

"Why would I be expecting anything different…" Yang huffed out as she slumped down onto the lower right bunk. Too exhausted to claim her usual top like before.

"Do you not like it, Yang?" Penny's chipper inflection dipped to a quieter, mousey murmur.

"She just needs to get some rest, Penny. It's been a long day for us." Weiss interjected, missing the small smile from Yang.

"Speaking of which, is anyone else starving? Being sustained from a tube in my arm didn't exactly do it for me." Blake piped up with a hand against her stomach for added effect.

"Good idea. We could get some food and discuss what we think the General wants with us. It still seems like he's not telling us everything." The Lieutenant then walked over to Yang sitting on the bed and grabbed her shoulder to get her attention away from the floor. "Yang? Are you coming?"

Her messy blonde locks shook from side to side as she gave her answer. Head still angled down and not towards her squad leader. Instead she focused on removing her armor to get more comfortable. "Nah. I think I'll just get some rest here…"

"Are you sure?"

A pit welled up in Yang's stomach as she heard the worry in Weiss' voice, but she pressed past it. "Yeah, I'll be fine…"

Azure eyes narrowed in concentration before she relented with a somber smile. "Well, if you need anything come get us…" She gave one last assuring squeeze before taking her hand away from Yang's shoulder and moving towards Penny and Blake at the door. As they filed out, Weiss peered back one last time to her squad mate -now in just her mesh underlay- staring at the ground, before begrudgingly following Blake and the A.I.

With the foot falls of her comrades trailing away, Yang scooted closer to the window between the two bunks and gazed out. The massive orb of blue and white that was Remnant took hold of the majority of her view. A sliver of a smile crept up the tall blonde's lips before leaning her shoulder and head against the wall. "We did it, Ruby. Remnant's safe and we're safe, thanks to you." Her words were sweet and joyful, yet she couldn't hide the feeling of loss within her no matter how she tried to cover it up with optimism.

Lost in her thoughts, Yang barely registered the sound of the room door sliding open once again to reveal Weiss, who hesitantly entered. "Hey, Weiss. I thought you were hungry?"

A dim smile quickly faded just as soon as it had appeared on the Lieutenant's face. "I changed my mind… H-How are you…?" An awkwardness filled the small room as Weiss approached the bed but didn't sit down.

"I'll be fine." Yang said with a laugh. She heard all too well the cautious nature behind Weiss' tone, but decided to ignore it as she gazed back to the window. A cluster of Pelican dropships came into her view, flying away from the Super Heavy Cruiser and towards Remnant below.

The bed gave out a creak as a weight settled next to Yang and a hand rested on her thinly dressed shoulder. She knew Weiss was trying to be there for her. To comfort her in a dark time like a leader should. And she appreciated it, deeply. But a wound to the heart doesn't heal nearly as fast as one to the body. Something Yang has learned through her time as an ODST again and again. Yang put her own hand atop Weiss'. Caressing it with her thumb as she slowly began to face the white haired soldier with a somber smile.

"I'm here, Yang. Whatever you need…"

It wasn't difficult at all to lock eyes with Weiss anymore. Where once there was a stern, demanding glare, throughout the day it slowly melted into a translucent encouraging gaze just like the crystalline blue of their color. Yang actually found it difficult to look away. And so too did she find it difficult to express her feelings. Her mouth fell open numerous times as nothing but a quiet groan escaped before finally finding the words to start.

"I know why she did it…"

Weiss' blue blinked at the statement Yang struggled to get out, but recovered quickly. She gave Yang a nod, telling her to continue after finding a lump building within her throat.

"Ever since I saw…the tank explode…" With shut eyes, Yang steeled herself, momentarily shaken from remembering the scene. "…I've been trying to deny the reason of what made her choose to throw her life away. I didn't want to think that my carelessness was what killed my sister…"

The grip of Weiss' hand strengthened immensely upon the sight of agonized lilac, almost to the point of bruising, before she caught herself and hastily removed it, whispering an apology. One that Yang didn't seem to pay any mind to as she captured the returning hand fast enough to draw a gasp from her squad leader.

"But Ruby didn't see it that way. To her, we were worth protecting. Even when we mess up, fail and cause more harm than good…" Tears came to Yang's eyes. But a smile below them beamed with passion as she inched closer to Weiss. "She did it out of love. Unconditional… Love…"

Stunned, Weiss could only watch as Yang leaned closer and closer. Time began to stand practically still, and that last word had struck a chord within her. It was a word rarely used in her family. Despite the name, her family wasn't always so cold to each other. They had their moments of compassion and tenderness. But she couldn't think of a time when her father or mother, or even sister had outright said that word in reference to one another…Yet she knew it was there between them. She was the same way. Like her sister or father and mother, she would do anything for them, and the same went for Yang and Blake. Was her love as strong as Ruby's? Could she give as much as that cheerful red head? She didn't have time to think of the answer as Yang finally connected their lips and entwined their fingers together like an unbreakable bond.

They separated shortly after meeting when Yang discovered Weiss' reluctance to reciprocate. "I'm sorry…I thought maybe…" Her words fell away as soon as she took in her Lieutenant's visage. Shock was the most prominent in her beautiful azure, and for a moment Yang began to panic, but just as she began to think this was a horrible idea, Weiss opened her mouth to speak.

"No, I am. Because I'm at a loss for words…Are you…Saying you l-love me…?" Azure quickly darted away as the word left her mouth to land on their conjoined hands, only to become further flustered and fall away again to her lap.

"Y-Yes? Is that…A problem…?" Hesitantly, Yang questioned. Both Weiss and herself as the moment got a lot more confusing to her.

Why? Weiss asked herself as she thought back to all their fights that showed no signs of love, especially of this sort. Then again, why was it then, that she felt so protective of her and Blake if there was nothing there? There had to be, but surely not this strongly… Why then, did it break her heart to see Yang in such pain after discovering her sister's second death? "…I…Don't know…" The answer wasn't meant for Yang, but she said it aloud all the same which made the blonde even more trepidatious.

Weiss snapped back to the woman in front of her when she felt the hand slip from her gentle grasp. And a weight began to form a pit in her stomach at the sad smile on Yang's face that greeted her.

"I'm an idiot…" A pitiful laugh left her soft lips and her dirtied blonde locks shook from side to side before scooting away from Weiss. "Look, let's just…Forget this happened, ok?"

The heaviness in Yang's words choked at Weiss like the air in the room had been sucked out in an instant. "No!" The outburst surprised even Weiss as she realized she was the one who released it. She had even taken the hand back, staring at it like it was the most important thing in existence. "I don't want to go back…Back to pretending that we hate each other…" She had always felt this way, she realized. It was almost too late, but she realized it. In the pit of her heart, she felt an overwhelming desire to keep Yang close. It was only now that she realized it was more than to just protect her subordinate. "I didn't understand until now, but…I meant the things I said on that cliff. I need you, Yang. More than I ever realized…" Finally looking to meet Yang's gaze, she thought her fears were true as the tears fell, but a giggle quelled the worry within.

"We're never going back…" With hot tears streaming down her face, Yang grabbed Weiss' chin and brought her in for another kiss. This time, she was met with the same wanton affection she gave.

It was absolutely, unequivocally, love that Weiss held for Yang in her heart. And when the challenges ahead came crushing them down like a harsh gravity, the strength they gave each other would hold them up above it all. Today had been dark and difficult for Ghost squad, but much like the fall of Remnant, it had passed to give way to a brighter future.

* * *

 **It's done! No, this is not the full end. I do plan on a sequel to both continue Ghost Squad's story and explain some things that were left unfinished. I have other stories to get to though, so it will be a while before I get to this story again. Thank you for your patience, everyone that waited. It's been a year since I posted chapter 8, and I'm sorry it took so long.**

 **By the way if you want to know about the last two chapter titles. They are named from songs by Breaking Benjamin that I thought captured the feelings and tones of the final chapters.**

 **Thanks again for reading and I hope you enjoyed the first step in their journey!**


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